Windchaser
by Nathair Bhinse
Summary: What happens when Harry Potter wakes up during his summer at Private Drive with a different face, the face of his enemy? What happens when he discovers he has been living someone else's life for fourteen years? 'More Summary inside'
1. Unwelcome changes

**Disclaimer:**

I don't own anything to do with the Harry Potter universe, J. K Rowling has that honor, I'm just borrowing them for my twisted ideas...Though any OC's in here are mine and might be remembered from my other stories, though they are not the same characters, just names I reuse because I like them. XD

I also don't own anything that Dudley or any of the other Dursley's maybe viewing on their hideous Telly at anytime in this fic, unless the AN at the bottom of the Fic says so.

**Pairings:**

Mostly Canon in the future save for the obvious.

No Slash.

Probably Tom/Ginny or Tom/Luna...if Tom gets paired at all.

And for those who think the fic will turn into a mush fest, I shall beat that idea from your head this instant. If any romance happens in this fic, it will be like in the HP books, a kiss here or there and a fade to another chapter...Because that's how I roll.

I write action/comedy/horror...ect...no good at romance.

**Warnings:**

Will contain mild language, violence and gore, severe spoilers for all seven books and a quite OOC Tom Riddle, but not OOC Voldemort. Oh and will have two characters with Multiple Animagus Forms...

No, I'm kidding, but there will be at least six people in here that will become Animagi. I'll let you guess who they are, and no Tom doesn't count because you just know I'll make him one, so there are six people, not including Tom that you have to guess on. XD

**Author's Notes:**

Ok, this will be my third HP fic, This one will be extremely AU because Harry Potter is obviously not in the fic. Although I will try to follow the books as best as I can remember, most of the stuff will be AU. Many Canon happenings will happen, but not all for many reasons and most of the personalities will be Canon except for those who have to change for the plot to play out properly.

Because this is an AU fic, things will happen that are NOT Canon to the HP world, but that's why it is called an AU fic. I will, however, try to keep all the non Canon stuff as believable as possible.

Oh and did I mention this fic will not have any Slash in it at all?

I do not have a Beta, so if you find something that needs to be fixed, give me a hoot.

**Summary:**

What happens when Harry Potter wakes up during his summer at Private Drive with a different face, the face of his enemy? What happens when he discovers he has been living someone else's life for fourteen years and the one who was suppose to be living it died on October 31st, 1981? Memories of his haunted past return, threatening to throw him down the dark path once more.

Friendships are sealed and the will of a person who wants to change in order to protect what he has come to love is put to the ultimate test. Will he become Lord Voldemort all over again and join his other self? Will he overthrow the other Voldemort in his bid for power? Or will he take up the mantel of the Chosen One and defeat the Dark Lord and live his life the way he should have the first time around?

**Rating:**

M

Extra Notes: _"Parseltongue"_, "Normal Speech", _'Thoughts'_, ***events***

**Chapter one: Unwelcome changes.**

'_It's not fair. After everything that has happened this last year...why do I have to lose one of the things that helps me remember my father?'_

He just couldn't figure the whole thing out. No matter how many times he ran the event through his head, Harry couldn't understand why his stag Patronus had not only doubled in size, but was missing his antlers and had sprouted a pair of large leathery wings. Now that he mulled over it a bit more with his clearer head, it really didn't look like a deer at all, more like a skeletal horse that was the sad result of a sick Pegasus that was mated with a rather tragic dragon.

Just yesterday he was enjoying a dismally hot afternoon in Aunt Petunia's shrubs, trying to hear the news on the Telly, when a loud crack had set the mood of the day from quiet and sleepy, to absolute hell. He had dodged Uncle Vernon's hands for almost an hour while he was questioned not only about the noise that had disturbed the Dursley's Telly viewing, but also about his choice of hiding place for the day, and spent most of the evening after that sitting in the play park brooding over how utterly unfair his life appeared to be.

It wasn't long before Harry spotted Dudley roaming the streets as the time neared dark and took to assaulting the boy verbally for ten minutes, venting all his frustrations and anger that was building up over the first part of this summer, on the not so fat but still very big lad. Harry had even surprised himself with some of the stuff he'd come up with to taunt Dudley; it was just so...Slytherin.

Everything was going swimmingly and the young wizard was sure he would go to bed tonight with a smile on his face, that was until the Dementors came. They had arrived spectactularly, as per the norm it seemed for their species, gliding in with rattling breaths, cold atmosphere and a vicious appetite for happy feelings. They forced themselves onto the pair of humans who were minding their own business, disturbed the natural order of things in Little Whinging as well as a possible beat down that Harry was about to preform on Dudley, throwing the cosmos out of aliment as nothing 'abnormal', aside from Harry himself, had ever happened here.

The beasts had attempted to kiss both Harry and his cousin Dudley within the first few seconds of their attack, forcing Harry to defend not only himself, but his fumbling idiot of a cousin with the only thing that could keep a Dementor at bay; his Patronus. And that is where Harry decided that something wasn't right in Potterville; his Patronus changing form was the absolute last straw.

That stag was all he had left of his father that he could really relate to. Aside from the cloak, the map -that belonged to all the Marauders- and his knack for trouble. Oh and his looks, which were starting to fade away into what Harry called 'maturity, if only to deny the clearly obvious; his appearance was changing dramatically and he didn't like it one bit.

The past week was filled with nothing but haunting nightmares about the Graveyard, and strange memories, memories that weren't his own, but of another child that looked vaguely familiar to Harry, yet couldn't be name or real details about the surroundings could be remembered once he woke up from these 'dream memories'; he could only remember how he, or rather the person in the memories, had felt at the time...Helpless and alone.

All of these memories took place either in a less than inviting orphanage, the feral streets of London, or the shadowed halls of Hogwarts. And for the most part, it looked like it was in the past, which didn't sit well with Harry at all. Whoever this kid was, he hadn't enjoyed an ideal childhood, actually, it very much mirrored Harry's own and he was starting to pity the poor bloke.

'_And yet, it doesn't surprise me at all how I've been treated all these years. Almost like I've dealt with all of it before'_

As he lay there on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, fifteen in age and quite exhausted from all the work, the heat and nightmares that plagued him every night, Harry somehow felt calm and collected, as if he knew he would get through it because he'd done it before. Not even the voice that had sounded in his head when he was almost kissed by the Dementor could dampen his mood.

"Bow down to death Harry, it may even be painless, I wouldn't know, for I have never died.."

'_Or something to that effect'_ he mused rolling over onto his side to take in the bare room that he was housed in for the summer. This year he had managed to steal one of the tall standing mirrors that his Aunt had tried to throw out because it 'clashed' with the new wall paper in her room. It now stood leaning against the wall near where he had his wardrobe...which he no longer owned. His loving Uncle had removed it before Harry got back here and gave it back to Dudley, who wanted more space to hang his new clothes he was getting from Aunt Marge._ 'As if he needs anymore clothes'_ Harry thought darkly. _'With the amount of clothes that Dudley now owned, they could cloth all the Orphans at my old Orphanage, not that I would waste time on those weak individuals.' _

It wasn't until five minutes had passed in blissful silence that Harry noticed he had referred to the Orphanage as _his_ instead of the other, nameless boy's. And he had thought of it as if he _owned the place._ Worry now threatened to take over the previously calm boy. _'What, now I have multiple personality disorder?' _With a huff worthy of Fang the boar hound, Harry sat up on his bed and regarded his new looks in the mirror with slight distaste. He was slightly taller than when he left Hogwarts, and this was one of two things that Harry was happy about in his new look. The other thing was that his hair now laid flat on his head if he brushed it down, instead of sticking up at odd angles. He was paler, but not sickly looking and had a more angular, though not quite Malfoy like frame. His eyes were still greenish, but darker, almost as if splashed with a deep brown.

Harry could now say that he looked a tad bit more handsome than before, as he had never really been happy with the way he looked for most of his life. _'Though I will need new glasses, these are starting to get fuzzy'._

A thud from downstairs signaled to Harry the arrival of the Dursleys, who had gone out for a couple of hours to dinner without 'the freak'. Two minutes passed before footsteps came up the stairs and rested outside his room. There was a click from the locks on his door, but said door didn't open, the footsteps just returned downstairs after a moment of fiddling and Harry couldn't figure out who it was that had unlocked the door yet not bothered to enter, probably worried they would be infected by him. As a matter of fact, he couldn't really figure anything out at the moment. He was too tired. Tired, bored, hungry, angry and fed up with not hearing anything from his friends and Hedwig had still not returned. Harry laid back down on the bed and sighed in defeat. He would take a short nap before dinner, just a small one to make sure he was in top condition should Mt Dursley blow this evening.

But when he woke again, it was almost daylight and his whole body seemed to ache. _'I feel like I've been through an extensive workout' _Slowly, so that he didn't pull any muscles or yank anything out of place, Harry sat up on the bed and blinked furiously. The first thing that he noticed was he didn't need his glasses anymore and had a fleeting thought that he hadn't ever worn them anyway so why bring it up, before it was batted away with a snort. Of course he's worn them, he needed them. Needed being the operative word as now he was able to see clearly without them. Yawning and stretching, Harry rose from his bed and walked over to the mirror in order to get a good look at himself, to see what he would need to do this morning in way of looking presentable. But as he neared the mirror, all he could see was a stranger looking back at him.

No, not a stranger, himself, as he remembered from so long ago. Not sickly pale and thin, not cold and distant, not beastly and feared, just the old, weak and terribly un-powerful self of before. And as he brought all these thoughts to the forefront of his mind, a sharp pain shot through his scar, ran down his spine and seemed to double back, hitting him between the eyes. Suddenly, everything made since.

It had all been a lie, this whole life he had been living as someone else who didn't exist, who died all those years ago in Godric's Hollow, leaving only him behind; without his memories and powers in the body of a year old child. The events of the last few days made since as well; his soul, his magic was forcing the body he inhabited to take the shape it felt he should possess, the shape it was familiar with. That shape was of a fifteen year old Tom Marvolo Riddle.

The young man stared back at himself from the mirror in awe at the how quickly his body had changed. He wasn't the short, scrawny, glasses-toting boy with messy black hair, now he was tall, handsome, cunning and quite the manipulator. Sporting thick, black hair and intelligent, dark eyes that once had made his skin seem even paler than it really was, now blended with his slightly tanned skin that he had acquired working in Petunia's garden.

'_Can't really call her my Aunt now can I? Can't call that walrus my Uncle or the pig-that-walks-on-two-legs my cousin...they aren't my family. I have no family.'_

A wicked smile crossed his face as he pondered on what that meant. He wouldn't have to stay here with them any more, he could stay with the Weasley's, or even find Sirius and stay with him. His smile faded at once when he thought of his friends; were they his friends? They had befriended Harry Potter, not _him_. Sirius was Harry's Godfather, not _his_, would they still want him? These thoughts soon had the youth sitting on the bed with his head in his hands, shaking from barely contained rage and sorrow. Depression was seeping into his body and soul, permeating every fiber of his being.

How would Ginny react? Wasn't it he who had almost killed her?

'_NO! That was the diary! It was Voldemort!'_

But wasn't he Voldemort?

'_No, I'm not, I'm not in Slytherin, I'm in Gryffindor. I have...Had...may still have friends' _A sly smile returned as he pulled his face away from his hands. _'And I play Quidditch, he doesn't because he finds it a waste of his time. I like Hagrid, he hates him and framed him. I like Hermione, he hates her and all those like her because they are Muggleborn.'_

The more he compared what he had to what Voldemort had or didn't have, the more he realized he wasn't the same person as he had been the night he was placed in Harry Potter's body, hell, not even the same person he had been the day he was told he was a wizard. He was better than Voldemort and he was the chosen one, the one with the power to defeat the Dark Lord.

With this in mind, the newly reborn Tom Marvolo Riddle paced in front of his bed, trying hard to figure out how he was going to convince Dumbledore not to kill him or lock him up, to trust him, to just treat him as he had been before he found out he wasn't Harry Potter. In fact, he would have to be Harry Potter some how, at least for the rest of the world; Dumbledore and those who were really close to Harry would know the truth, but the wizarding world and Voldemort -Tom shuddered- had to believe that he was Harry.

Quickly, he snatched up the glasses from the bed side table and fiddled with the lenses, making them just pieces of normal glass. He then placed them on his face. _'hmm, oh the hair'_. Tom rushed to the door silently and stuck his head out into the hall with the hope that all the Dursleys were asleep. He was rewarded after holding his breath for a minute, with the sounds of snoring from the rooms that belonged to the Muggles. So without further delay, he darted across the hall and locked himself in the bathroom. Tom spent an hour cutting and styling his hair to look like it had as Harry Potter, then thought about how to deal with his eyes, a glamor would be too much to keep up and check all the time, but full out transfiguration on the other hand. Sneering he waved his hand in front of his eyes and concentrated on the green eyes that Lily had once possessed. The young man suddenly felt winded and had to use the sink to steady himself.

'_Bugger, forgot this is the body and core of a fifteen year old, and I haven't learned wandless or non-verbals yet'_

But it had worked. The eyes were green again, if not the perfect shade of before, not that eyes ever remained exactly the same throughout someone's life. Tom stuffed the glasses on and smiled at the likeness of Harry Potter he had managed without more transfiguration or any Polyjuice. He still had the scar, and although he wasn't as filled out as he had been as Harry, at least he could pass it off as an older, more mature and athletic Harry to those who weren't with the boy twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week and nine months out of the year.

Sure there would be questions, like how he grew that much over this short period, why he was more angular than before and why his voice was very different. But hadn't Dumbledore said Harry and Tom looked alike? Hadn't he, as Harry, noticed how similar he looked to the diary Tom Riddle? Maybe it wouldn't be that hard to pass himself off as Harry after all and he may not have to tell anyone who he really was yet.

The true test, though, would be to see if he could fool the Dursley's and it was with this sinking feeling of dread, that Tom left the bathroom to prepare breakfast for the first time in Private Drive as Tom Riddle.

'_At least the clothes I'm wearing fit better now..'_ he thought with a hint of amusement; he had never been one to wear shabby clothes or hand-me-downs. No, Tom Riddle had always found a way to acquire the best looking clothes; even if he had to steal them from another orphan. This was yet another thing that separated him from Voldemort, here he was in a Muggle house, wearing these horrible clothes, cooking like a house elf and he wasn't bothered by it.

An hour passed quite cheerfully for Tom, who was in a great mood now that he knew who he was and why he had all those dreams. The only thing that was bothering him now was the hearing that he was scheduled for about the use of magic in front of a Muggle. Fooling the younger crowd won't be so hard, but fooling the older crowd, most of whom had been at school while Tom was there; now that was going to be a challenge.

'_I'll need Dumbledore after all'_

A loud sneeze from upstairs let Tom know Vernon was up and about, and not far behind him would be Petunia and Dudley._ 'And then the games shall begin'_

Sure enough, Vernon came stomping down the stairs, making as much racket as was humanly possible. He shot a nasty glare at Tom as he took his seat at the table. Petunia came in next, eying him critically for a moment, before shrugging and taking a seat next to Vernon, planting a kiss on his beefy cheek. It was ten minutes later before Dudley stormed down the stairs and wrenched the front door open with such speed, Tom was sure he was fleeing something.

"Dinner will be at seven Popkin! Be sure to come home for dinner!"

Tom groaned as Dudley grunted something in reply that resembled a low 'not if I can help it', and continued on his way out the door. Either Petunia hadn't heard Dudley's remark, or was just too dense to realize the implication of that statement, Tom didn't know. All he knew was Petunia seemed happy with the reply and was enjoying her breakfast along with Vernon, who was reading the paper with one hand and shoveling food into his mouth with the other. He seemed to be on automatic like one of the machines at the factory he worked at; his hand had established a perfect rhythm, up, down, up, down. He barely had time to chew the last mouthful before another replaced it.

It was only Tom's re-discovered skills at hiding his emotions that prevented him from gaping like an idiot at the sight, though it didn't keep him from staring a bit longer than he should have.

"What?" Vernon barked irritably as he shoved another bite of eggs into his already full mouth.

"Nothing, just wondering if you wanted some more" Tom kept his voice level and tried to mimic the pitch that he possessed as Harry, pulling it off without much difficulty.

Vernon only paused for a moment in shoveling, blinked a few times, then proceeded to ignore Tom in favor of finishing his meal with only a growl.

"Don't get smart with me, boy"

Tom shrugged and returned to cleaning the dishes in the sink. Had he been watching Petunia instead of just shrugging off Vernon's comment, he would have seen the look of suspicion she had thrown him after his question about seconds.

Four days later Hedwig returned with only a note from Sirius about the happenings of late where he was, which was nothing more than complaining about missing Harry and talking about pranks he could teach him to pull at Hogwarts. Tom snorted at the foolishness of his Godfather, for that is what he would call the man if anyone should ask seeing as he _had_ been Harry and that made Sirius his legal Godfather. It was typical of 'Padfoot' to think that Harry would need ideas of pranks to cheer him up instead of comforting words and perhaps a little line dropped about when he would be getting away from the Dursleys. But no, it was just worthless information; perhaps he should save the note and give it to the twins? Surely they could use it?

Smirking at deviousness of the idea, Tom stuffed the note into his trunk and started sorting things out and packing them away. He hated messy areas, mostly because it made it much harder to find what he needed exactly when he needed it. Twenty minutes later found Tom finished with his packing and nursing a sore hand. Hedwig knew something was up with her wizard, yet she couldn't quite place it and was nipping at his hand every so often as if the action would tell her what was wrong with the picture. In the end, Tom closed the window to prevent the escape of his familiar and proceeded to tell her his story.

She spent the next six hours sitting as far away from him as possible, with her back to him; Occasionally she would send a baleful glare his way, before returning to her staring match with the wall. But eventually she gave up being angry at him and while he sat on his bed, last year's defense notes in hand, she flew over and settled herself on his chest.

"I knew you couldn't stay mad at me. I'm still the same person, right?"

Tom started to pet the feathers under her chin and around her neck. Hedwig blinked slowly, her eyes half-mast in contentment as she nibbled on the hand that was petting her.

"I just hope the rest of my friends will be so easy to please...Maybe I should ask Sirius to teach me how to be an Animgus, I mean, I know it will take most of the year to learn, if not longer than that, but I think it would give him something to relate to, you know?"

Hedwig hooted in the affirmative before whipping her head around to stare at the bedroom door. There was a click at the locks on the door and Vernon's head appeared in the doorway once the door opened.

"We are going out"

Tom blinked once in confusion. "Sorry?"

Vernon set a glare on his face before continuing.

"We, that is, your Aunt, Dudley and I are going out."

"Oh, alright then" Tom leaned all the way back on his pillow, regarding Vernon with only half his mind.

"You are not to leave this room"

"Okay"

"You are not to touch any of our possessions or steal food from the kitchen"

"That would entail me leaving this room" Tom said dully, his eyes narrowing on Vernon.

There was a pause in speech and Tom was sure he had stepped over some invisible line Vernon had drawn, but Vernon continued as if uninterrupted after a moment.

"We should be back in an hour or two..."

"Right"

"I'm locking this door"

"You do that"

Vernon stood there for a moment longer before he turned on his heel and left the room, closing the door with a slight slam. The locks clicked multiple times and then Vernon thundered down the stairs.

It wasn't long after that when the car started up and pulled out of the drive, leaving a smirking Tom and bewildered Hedwig to their own devices.

_AN: What do you think?_

_Oh and those who guess the people who will be Animagi will get twenty points for each correct guess to the house of their choice._

_Even better, and twenty more points, if you can come up with a form to match them...That includes Tom's, fair warning though, no he won't be a snake; that's too typical. _


	2. The Snake and The Phoenix

**Chapter two: The Snake and The Phoenix.**

Even though he knew it to be no more than half an hour since the Dursleys had left, it still felt like days to Tom. He was stuck in his room, with only Hedwig for company and a whole notebook full of badly written material. _'I can't believe my writing was that bad as Harry'_

Tom kept staring down at the notes, frowning here or there at a word that he couldn't decipher, before moving on to another round of notes on a different subject. Hedwig would hoot every five minutes or so, seemingly counting down the minutes they had left before Vernon would return home with his family and demand food. A sound downstairs made Tom pause in reading to listen, but when nothing else happened, his eyes drifted from the door back to his papers.

Yet again a noise brought Tom from his reading, this time an almighty crash, as if something had been knocked off a shelve and had smashed on the floor. _'Can't be the Dursleys, they're not due back for a bit yet...and none of them would have broken anything'_ Tom closed his notebook and placed it on top of his robes in the open trunk. He then snatched up his wand as more fumbling near the stairs and confused voices alerted him to the fact that not only did the people not know where things were, they were evidently looking for something and having very little luck in finding it. Deciding that he would wait the people out, Tom quickly hurried over to the trunk again and pulled out James' invisibility cloak and tossed it over himself. Hedwig settled herself on the top of the writing desk, looking innocent, though Tom knew if someone hostile walked through the door, they would get a face full of snowy owl talons faster than Tom could cast.

The door's locks suddenly clicked and the door swung open. Tom was sure he could feel the magic that was used to accomplish this feat. Now he was in a near panic. Death Eaters could get in here now that he wasn't Harry, he was sure of it, seeing as his magical signature was probably mirroring Voldemort's, and if it was and he was allowed to live here within the wards, then surely Death Eaters could enter.

But there wasn't anyone entering the room. The door had opened quickly, but no one was there in the hall. Slowly, so that he didn't make too much noise, Tom crept out onto the landing, cloak still covering him, and paused at the sight of shadowed figures waiting at the base of the stairs.

They were in a relatively large number, about eight or nine perhaps, and appeared to be throughly confused. This made Tom smirk, whoever they were they would be in for a surprise should they attempt to attack the room he had just left.

"Well, someone go up there and see if Potter is frozen in place or something" A growling voice snapped at the nearest person. Tom recognized that voice, mostly because he had been taught last year by someone pretending to be him. _'Moody, of course...so Dumbledore has sent a rescue party...Interesting'_

The person who seemed to gather themself up first took the stairs two at a time and passed Tom without knowing he did. It was a very shabby looking Remus Lupin. Tom suddenly felt a pang of pity for the man as he searched the room over.

"He's not here...Hedwig is here but Harry isn't"

Tom opened his mouth to reply when Moody unknowingly cut him off.

"So Potter left the house and locked his pet in the room? Are his things there? Trunk and the likes?" Moody was on his way up the stairs now, his magical eye was buzzing all over the place.

"Yes, see for yourself. All his things are here..Except..." Lupin bent over the trunk and then came away from it with a smile on his face. "The cloak isn't here...Harry! Where are you?"

Moody grunted in reply to the missing cloak, then muttered something that sounded vaguely like "Auror's reaction to an invasion of personal space."

Tom grinned at the whole group, who was now sure belong to Dumbledore and were possibly the Order of The Phoenix. Ripping the cloak off him, he kept his wand trained on Moody but addressed Lupin.

"I'm here Moony, just being cautious." Lupin started and spun around to stare wide eyed at Tom, while Moody smirked and repeated what he said earlier about Auror reactions.

"Harry...You've...Grown" Lupin continued to gape at Tom, raking his eyes up and down his form as if double checking the boy's identity. Moody quickly limped over to Tom and started to give him a good looking over for himself; though he didn't look as accepting as Lupin had.

"He seems a whole lot different than how you said he looked" A young woman with a heart shaped face and bright violet hair spoke up from the gathered crowd. Next to her, a tall, bald, black wizard frowned in thought.

"Yes, he doesn't look a whole lot like James at all, Remus" His slow voice calmed Tom almost instantly even though he wasn't quite sure why.

Lupin just sputtered a few times before straightening up. "Well, he is getting older. Can't always look like a copy of James now can he? He does have another parent to get his looks from you know"

Tom couldn't quite put his finger on the emotion that Lupin seemed to put into those words, but it sounded almost like anger and perhaps some sadness.

"Well, enough about who I don't look like and lets be out of this hell hole." Tom groused, walking quickly past both a shocked Moody and an amused Lupin, to put James' cloak back in the trunk. Once that was accomplished, Tom put Hedwig's cage on top of the trunk and tied it down. He wasn't sure how they were leaving, but it would probably be best to not have to carry everything separately.

"I've packed everything I own in the trunk, so we don't have to come back here again...ever" he added hopefully, a glint in his eyes that begged the people around him not to bring him back.

"Well we'll leave that to Dumbledore, right now we just have to get you out of here." Lupin reached out and grabbed the trunk from Tom, hauling it down the stairs with the help of a few of the other Order members down there. The Violet haired woman just grinned at Tom, making him feel as if he were some kind of dearly wanted puppy in the window of a pet shop.

"Er, shall we go now?" Tom asked the room at large, earning a snort from Moody and giggle from the Violet...no, pink haired woman. Tom's eyes widened and his mouth hung open for a few seconds before he caught himself and shut it with a click.

"You're a Metamorphmagus aren't you?" he asked in awe. The woman just nodded vigorously, hair changing a few times through an odd selection of colors and stuck her hand out for him to shake, which Tom took immediately. "Name's Tonks"

"Nymphadora Tonks" Moody said with a sneer.

"Don't call me Nymphadora, Mad-Eye!" she shouted, her hair turning red for a split second before reverting back to pink.

"Nice to meet you Tonks, or would you prefer Dora?" Tom smirked, turning on his Slytherin charm just to see how she would react.

Tonk's eyes widened and she started to giggle again while pulling her hand back from the hand shake. "Ohhh, aren't you the charmer, eh? Tonks is find by me, though I wouldn't mind you calling me Dora"

Tom smiled triumphantly, but flinched slightly when he thought he heard a low, canine like growl from somewhere nearby. No one else seemed to hear it so Tom just shook the event out of his mind. "Lets get going, oh, Harry, this is Kingsley Shacklebolt" Lupin pointed over to the bald black wizard.

"Elphias Doge." A wheezy-voiced wizard nodded and managed a weak "Pleasure".

Lupin then turned to point over Moody, who had walked in front of him to head off into the kitchen. "Dedalus Diggle -"

"We've met before, ages ago it seems now!" squeaked Diggle, dropping his top hat a few times in an attempt to shake Tom's hand.

Lupin continued "-Emmeline Vance." A stately-looking witch in a green shawl blinked at him slowly as Tom took her hand.

"-Sturgis Podmore."- A square-jawed wizard with straw-colored hair winked in response to his name being stated. Tom walked over and shook his hand as well, earning him many odd, yet amused looks from those in the room. - "And Hestia Jones." A pink-cheeked, black-haired witch waved form next to the toaster, slipping slightly and knocking the device off the counter, leaving it swinging by the cord. "Opps, Sorry" She blushed and replaced the toaster.

"And this is Alastor Moody...Alastor, put that down and shake the lad's hand..." Lupin said, exasperated. Moody put his magical eye, which he had managed to pop out of its socket while the others were being introduced, into a glass of water and took Tom's hand in a firm shake that he didn't let go of.

"You seem familiar..." he started slowly, eying Tom up close now with his good eye, while the empty socket of the other made Tom frown a little. Moody noticed how it didn't seem to effect the boy the way it did other people, and made a mental note about it.

"Of course he does, he's Harry Potter..." Lupin sounded quite tired and Moody finally let Tom's hand go with another grunt. Tom flexed his right hand a few times to get the feeling back into it, then turned to Tonks when she started speaking.

"Very clean, aren't they, these Muggles?" She looked around the kitchen, running her hands across the surfaces of anything flat within her reach. "My dad's a Muggleborn and a right old slob...Though I guess it varies just like with wizards, eh?"

Tom smiled slightly and took this opportunity to make a bid for his eternal freedom from the Dursley's. "Oh sure. Except I'm the reason the place is so spotless. I'm the House Elf. Have been since I could stand on a stool and take directions, and no, I'm not exaggerating" he added quickly, when Lupin looked about to reprimand him.

Silence met that statement, the only sound that was heard was the squelching of Moody's eye as he popped it back into place and fixed Tom with a look that made Tom feel all _warm_ and_ fuzzy_ inside.

"So, they use you like a work horse around here? Garden is your work too I figure...Course it is, why bother" he growled, limping over to Lupin and poking him in the chest. "We will cover this with Dumbledore AFTER the meeting"

If Tom hadn't been straining to hear what was being said, he might have missed that little interaction, but he had been and so it was a mute point.

"Are we leaving now? I don't mean to be a pain but I don't want to be here when Vernon returns from wherever he and the family went." Tom kicked himself mentally for not calling Vernon and his 'herd' by their proper titles that Harry would have used, but his recent outage as the House Elf seemed to help with that slip.

"Right, lets get into position...Harry, we'll be leaving by broom just so you know"

Tom pulled the Firebolt up to his chest after taking it from a rather irritated Moody as Lupin finished giving the instructions on formations and what should be done in the event of an emergency. Tonks ran up to Tom and starting gaping at the Broom he was holding.

"Wow! A Firebolt! And I'm still riding a Comet Two Sixty!" she clucked her tongue a few times, now sending Tom looks of pure admiration. "Alright you lot, there's the first signal. Everybody mount your brooms...In the garden!" Lupin added quickly, as Tonks was mounting her broom with a wide smile, still standing in the middle of the kitchen, much to Tom's amusement. Everyone moved out onto the lawn, gazing up at the showering red sparks in the air that were no doubt the wand sparks Lupin had been speaking of.

"Alright lad, I need to Disillusion you. Come here." Moody said gruffly, and moved to tap the tip of his wand onto Tom's head. Tom had jerked back when Moody brought his wand up and had instinctively reached for his in his pocket, but when the Auror moved more slowly and tapped the wand tip on Tom's head, the young man relaxed. The familiar feeling of a cold, raw egg being broken on his head and then trickling down from where the wand had struck made Tom shiver.

"Thanks"

"No trouble...Good instincts you've got, lad. Nice reflexes too, you'd make a good Auror."

Moody grunted and quickly mounted his broom as Lupin pointed to the sky. "There's the second signal, everyone push off!" Lupin commanded, as Moody started giving Tom the run down on how to throw someone off their tail, and Tom drank his words in as if in training.

The flight was pretty much uneventful, save for the rain, cold wind and numerous times that Moody wanted to double back in order to make sure no one was following them. Hedwig seemed to be the only one willing to fly back with Moody to do just that. Tom would have, if only to get more time alone with the battle scarred Auror; he liked him a hell of a lot more now then when they were in school together. But unfortunately, the rest of the Order wanted him in the middle and to stay there.

It seemed like they had flown for hours, and Tom was sure they had with all the doubling back that Moody was doing. His hands were frozen to the broom and his teeth started to chatter.

"Alright, time to start our descent!" Lupin shouted over the roar of the chilly wind and rain. Tom watched Tonks dive suddenly, his trunk, which was attached to her broom, swayed dangerously behind her, and almost didn't hear Lupin instructing him to follow her down over the wind.

Finally they landed in front of a not too pleasant looking bunch of dark buildings. Tom looked over his shoulder for the grizzled Auror, and after spotting him, visibly relaxed and brought his attention to Lupin. Said Order member had noticed Tom's actions and was giving him a gentle smile. "If you keep that up, he'll think you walk on water"

"Keep what up?" Tom looked back over at Moody, who appeared to be trying hard not to look at him.

"The hero worship. I've noticed how you keep wanting to ask him questions and just now, you only relaxed when you saw him nearby. You feel safe with the tough, old warrior nearby and actually want his company, while many of us just want him to get the briefings over with."

Tom didn't grace Lupin with a response, in truth, he didn't know why he wanted to be around Moody, perhaps it was because the man just seemed the type to tell him the truth without sugar coating it, and could teach him a lot without babying him. Or maybe it was the thrill Tom got being near someone who appeared to not be fooled by the disguise that Tom was using and was waiting for the right moment to strike. The group marched up the lawn as Moody took a strange metal device out of his pocket and clicked multiple times. The lights on the street went out with a pop and Tom eyed the small trinket with a growing need to snatch it when no one was looking.

"Read this quickly and memorize it" Lupin whispered in Tom's ear, having taken the paper that Moody had earlier and handed it over to Tom.

Tom smirked as he read what was scribbled in a familiar, narrow writing on the piece of paper.

_The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London._

Once Tom nodded that he had it memorized, Moody took the paper from him and ignited it with his wand. "So no one else gets their hands on it" he mumbled.

Tom looked up at the houses, they were standing on the lawn of number eleven, on their left was number ten and to the right was thirteen. Twelve was missing. _'Ah, yes,__** that **__charm'_

Tom thought about what he had just read he had only just reached the part about number twelve when something happened. A building seemed to squeeze itself into existence between eleven and thirteen, though the Muggles in the buildings on both sides continued to go about their business as if a building was not just inflating itself into being outside their windows.

"Wicked" Tom whispered. As many times as he had seen magic of this sort, he had never really seen a house with that specific charm placed upon it just appear like that; magic was just wonderful, he really loved magic.

"Wicked indeed, now in with you lot before someone murders _him_" Moody barked, jerking his thumb over at Tom as he herded the Order members and Tom indoors. The hall they stepped into was pitch black, no lights showed anywhere, save for the little bit that filtered in from outside until the door shut. Moody let the lights escape the little silver device before he shut the door fully and pocketed the trinket. Moody then quickly tapped the tip of his wand on Tom's head, leaving a hot water sensation to run down Tom's back as Lupin set the oil lamps that lined the walls to the 'on' position.

Tom wished he hadn't.

The musty smell had been bad enough, now he had to see the disaster that was the Headquarters of the Order. "Not very clean this place. What happened? You lot forget to hire a house elf?" Tom quipped. They all smirked a bit and Moody pushed Tom forward toward a door at the end of the hall with a growled "Maybe we'll hire you".

"Uh, Mad-Eye, there's a meeting going on in there and I don't think-"

"-That this should wait" Moody finished for Tonks, still holding Tom firmly by the shoulders and steering him toward what Tom figured was the kitchen, because he could smell food on the other side of the door.

"Alright! Enough talk, we got business to attend to" Moody roared, startling everyone who was present in the kitchen, not to mention the Order members who had been following him and Tom.

It was now, in the middle of the Order's Headquarters that Tom suddenly felt scared, and the reason for it was sitting in one of the chairs near a fire place; Albus Dumbledore.

Tom's eyes drifted from the Headmaster, to fall on the rest of the room and from what he could see, pretty much everyone he wanted to talk to was here. Both Arthur and Molly Weasley were seated closest to him and smiled in welcome when they noticed him looking at them.

Sirius, who was sitting across the table from where Tom was standing, gave Tom a wink. Lupin of course, who took a seat next to Sirius. Dumbledore was seated at what would be the head of the table nearest the fireplace and seemed to be studying Moody closely. Snape sat near Dumbledore on the Weasley's side of the table and couldn't take his eyes off of Tom; he looked deathly pale and had sweat on his brow. And then what Tom figured must be the elder Weasley sons, Bill and Charlie, both of them were seated on Dumbledore's left, on the side where Lupin and Sirius sat.

Moody hadn't moved from his standing position behind Tom, nor had he released his firm grip on the boy's shoulders. There were more members here that Tom didn't know, plus the few that had been his guard from Private Drive. Tom looked up and over his shoulder at Moody, even though he was tall, Moody was taller. The Auror looked down at him with his good eye, but didn't say anything while his magical one appeared to be looking out the back of his head.

"Alastor? What is the meaning of all that shouting" Dumbledore spoke from his spot at the end of the table. His eyes were twinkling madly behind his glasses. In front of him was a bowl of soup and cup of some kind of dark liquid that might be Brandy. Both suddenly seemed much more interesting to Tom at the moment than looking Dumbledore in the eye.

"Well, first off, this isn't Harry Potter" Moody patted Tom's shoulders in a strange way, almost as if he were beating the very words into Tom's body. His voice was full of glee as everyone present gasped. Tom only flinched, but didn't deny Moody's accusation.

"What do you mean-" Lupin began but Sirius stood up and walked around the table, coming to rest in front of Tom with a worry filled frown. He stared at him full on, Tom stared back, and after only a few seconds of scrutinizing Tom, Sirius backed away and retook his seat with a thud, though it looked like someone had pulled him away, as Tom was sure the man would've liked to thrash him right now not sit and wait.

"Mad-Eye's right, that isn't Harry" his tone was icy, just as sharp as his narrowed eyes. "Where's my Godson? What have you done to him?" he snarled leaning onto the table, making Lupin shrink away from him slightly.

Tom knew he wouldn't be able to get away with the ruse for long, he had just wished it would hold until he got Dumbledore by himself. Everyone was now standing up from their seats and pulling out their wands.

Tom held his hands up and made to walk backwards, but Moody kept him rooted to the spot. "Look, let me expla-"

"No"

Tom turned to face the one who had spoken so sharply and slumped, it was Dumbledore. His eyes no longer holding their normal sparkle. "You will all excuse the two of us for a moment".

It wasn't a question, but a demand and reluctantly, all the Order members obeyed, shooting glares at the imposter as they passed, some sending him gestures that promised pain. Moody reluctently let go of the former Slytherin, snorting something under his breath that Tom thought might be "Good luck you sneaky snake." That worried him, for he was sure Moody didn't know it was _him_...Maybe he just meant that he was like one in his ability to slither in to Headquarters like that?

Once the room was empty, save for Tom and Dumbledore, the old man took off his glasses with a sigh, cleaning them on his robes and regarded a thickly swallowing Tom with watchful eyes. "Sit down, Tom, you have much to answer for" he said at last, his voice hard and almost cold.

_AN:_

_And there you go, another chapter up...More OOCness for a few of the folks here, at least for this chapter and next._


	3. A deception worthy of a Marauder

**Chapter three: A deception worthy of a Marauder. **

"So when did you find out he wasn't Harry?" Lupin and Sirius finally asked Moody at the same time, though Lupin was more controlled and Sirius practically shouted. All the Order members that had been banished from the kitchen were in the silenced study, and had been sitting there without a word to one another for nearly two hours. Each obviously had hoped to hear something from the kitchen, but in the end, they had broken down and decided to bully Moody for information.

They were either seated near Moody or were standing near him in the hopes that this would pressure the man into telling them all what was going on. Even Snape was leaning in to hear the tale.

"When we were flying" he started, tapping his finger on his walking staff with a thoughtful look.

"I had my suspicions at the house, but when he kept talking to me while we were heading here, eager in many ways, yet calculating. I noticed some other things that just didn't sit right with my training. And I told you he seemed familiar, Lupin and not a Harry Potter kind of familiar either. Much older and dangerous"

Everyone exchanged glances and looked over at the closed kitchen door with worried expressions; some even fingered their wands, looking ready to charge in and assist in any battle that might happen.

"A Death Eater then?" Tonks spoke up from her place on the dirty floor. She was seated cross-legged, right at Moody's feet and looked the part of an excited grandchild about to hear an adventure from her grandfather.

Moody shook his head. "Nah, but you're close on that. I don't think he is marked, but he may be working with Who-Know-Who" he cast a look over at Snape, who seemed grateful for the Auror not using the Dark Lord's name and appeared to be struggling with himself mentally.

"Just him entering the room made me uneasy, my mark itched, it only does that in the presence of a Death Eater or the Dark Lord." Snape answered.

"Who do you think he is then? And where do you think he's put Harry? In the trunk?" Sirius made to stand up and check the trunk that Tonks was leaning back against but Moody shook his head again and Sirius sat back down.

"It's hard to think about, really, but I don't think we ever had Potter..."

Everyone gaped at that statement and then an explosion of chatter started up all around the room. Moody was glad he silenced the room before they settled into it. Nobody could make heads or tails of who was saying what.

"So someone has been impersonating Harry for years right under-"

"What do you mean we never had Harry! Of course we have-"

"I knew something seemed off about that boy-"

"Surely not Alastor-"

"Then where is the real Harry-"

"That will be quite enough out of all of you"

All the Order members rose in unison from their seats as Dumbledore glided in with a very powerful twinkle in his eyes. "Now, if you would please wait here while I fill them in on the situation, my boy?"

Tom nodded, his eyes slightly puffy and red. He took the seat vacated by Moody and picked up a book on advanced Transfiguration from a nearby shelf while the Order members followed Dumbledore out. The Headmaster took Arthur by the arm and asked him to run upstairs and fetch all the children and bring them into the kitchen so that he would not have to repeat this story more than once.

"Now that we are all situated, I would like to get a promise from all of you that you will not interrupt me at any time during this briefing."

Albus Dumbledore stood at the head of the table once more. Everybody else was scattered about the table, some with drinks in front of them, others without. All the children were seated on one side of the table, as far away from their parents as possible, with the exception of Hermione, who didn't have any parents to shy away from here.

All the heads nodded at once, making Dumbledore smile.

"Good, secondly, you children are about to learn about a very dark bit of magic and I hope you will keep it to yourself and will not-" here he paused to stress the next sentence, all the twinkle now gone from his eyes. "Attempt to preform it...ever"

Every one of the children paled suddenly and nodded in agreement. Though Hermione looked thoughtful and kept throwing Ginny knowing looks.

"Now to start at the beginning is probably best." The Headmaster sat down in his chair and leaned forward onto the table, resting his elbows in front of him and inter-locking his fingers together. Everyone copied him, though some just leaned on the table, not bothering to do anything with their fingers unless it was to pick at them, like Snape.

"On October thirty-first, nineteen eighty-one, the Potter family was slaughtered by Lord Voldemort in what everyone would have called an expertly executed attack, if it were not for the small detail of Voldemort being destroyed by an infant."

Snape flinched and quickly looked down at his dark mark.

"Only one member was thought to survive the attack, his name was Harry Potter"

True to their word, no one said anything, although they looked quite startled at the way Dumbledore had worded his tale. Many were looking at each other in fear, while others were just plain confused.

"What really happened there is both tragic and a miracle. You see, when Voldemort attacked Harry, he was successful in killing the young lad, unfortunately. But as Harry hadn't felt any pain, and surely didn't understand what was happening, it was probably for the best."

Sirius gaped and leaned back in his seat, eyes watering, while Remus ran his right hand through his hair with a small whimper. The rest of the room just shifted uneasily in their seats and tried not to look one another in the eyes; perhaps in a futile attempt to keep from showing that they too were very nearly losing it.

"Now as to who was left behind...That is the miracle and I do believe the reason why Harry Potter was chosen to be the one marked by Voldemort. I don't think the other one that was listed as being a possible would have been able to house the magic that would be needed for the event, I think Voldemort would have just killed them all and left without a scratch. And to make the tale more understandable to those who don't already know, there was a prophesy made about one who would defeat the Dark Lord, and Harry Potter was chosen out of the two possibles."

Again everyone stayed silent, though Sirius and Remus were both crying and Arthur was patting Remus on the arm and attempted to do the same with Sirius, but the man jerked his hands off the table with a firm shake of the head; he didn't want the comfort so it seemed. The children all frowned at the last part of Dumbledore's sentence; a prophecy that was made about Harry and one other seemed to be the cause of all this trouble.

"Voldemort left a piece of himself behind, but not a memory as he would have everyone believe, an actual piece of his soul was stripped away from him and placed in what was Harry Potter...Like the diary he possessed as a lad and then passed on to innocent children though his agents." Here Ginny stiffened up and looked even more pale. Her brothers, all of them, save for Percy, who wasn't present, huddled near to comfort her.

"But instead of leaving an evil bit of himself behind, he left the only human and rational part of himself not tainted by madness and the Dark Arts. He left a pure and fully moldable, Tom Marvolo Riddle. This version of Tom was left without his memories or powers, just thrown into the body of Harry Potter, protected by Lily's love and, thus, he has lived as Harry Potter, grown as Harry Potter and loved as Harry Potter for these many years. I do believe, as he does, that Lord Voldemort's return, triggered the connection they share and gave him back his memories and some powers."

Dumbledore let this sink in for a moment before continuing.

"But he is, for all intents and purposes, a fifteen year old wizard who needs to learn how to control his magic. There is much for him to learn and many things that he needs to master, some that he was unable to do the first time around. Like Potions for example. Tom may have been a bright lad, but he didn't seem to interested in that field, so he never really put his all into it I think...That is why he needs Severus now. Just because he knows a spell or incantation, doesn't mean he can preform the task, he needs to relearn everything from scratch, knowing about it just makes it easier to a degree, yet there is much that has changed and many new things that have been discovered..."

Tonks whistled and the rest all started to imitate fish out of water; this guy had near sixty plus years of experience in his head that he had relearn how to handle and then on top of it, learn new things.. It really sucked to be Tom.

"As such, the boy that you have known all these years is still the same boy. He just understands his connection with Voldemort better and knows his real name...He hasn't changed from the shy, funny and caring young man that I've known these past four years and I do think that you all shouldn't treat him any differently. He does not wish to be resorted into that...how did he word it? 'Dratted house of Muggle and Muggleborn hating, inbred, Pure Blood fanatics who serve the biggest idiot since Grindelwald'...yes I do think I got that right."

The twins started to laugh, and then Lupin chuckled a little, Moody snorted and Snape shook his head in defeat. The others were still in too much shock to do more than stare at Dumbledore with their mouths open.

"And you trust him?" Ron croaked at last, seemingly drawing his courage from his laughing brothers; he still didn't think Tom was safe just because he had been Harry all these years and might have grown to like some of them.

Dumbledore smiled warmly and nodded "I do indeed trust Tom. He has proven himself multiple times these many years to be incorruptible, and the last two hours I questioned him extensively to the point that he was soon in hysterics. Tom will continue to be the one to defeat Voldemort and will not change his views from what they have been these many years as Harry. Oh, and yes, he will continue to answer to the name Harry, that is if you choose to call him as such in private. You will have to in public. This farse must be kept up for the public, if the Ministry or Voldemort gets wind that Harry Potter isn't really who they think he is, then all hell will break loose."

Sirius ran his hands across his face a few times and then leaned forward on the table, palms down to support himself as he half stood from his seat. "So I have a reformed Dark Lord as a Godson?" he asked, totally in shock and slightly disgusted.

The Headmaster shook his head sadly. "No, you have a child in need of a proper life, one that he was denied the first time around due to many events of the timeframe, as your Godson. Don't treat him any different than you have been lately, just don't speak of James or Lily as his parents, he doesn't think he deserves them or wants to spoil their good names by connecting them with himself."

Sirius nodded and kept quiet, but Snape could see the wheels turning in his head as he glanced over at Lupin repeatedly. The rest of the members were shocked at that little tid-bit of information and fiddled with what ever they had in hand at the moment.

Then the silence was broken before Dumbledore could finish.

"Well, I don't know about you lot, but I think we should let him know we aren't planning his demise"

Everyone looked over at Tonks, who was picking at a loose thread on her shirt and hadn't looked up to see their reaction. "That is if you lot are planning on keeping him" Now she looked up at them all; her expression grave.

That was the last straw for the silent Hermione. She burst out laughing, startling half the room, and then addressed what had been so funny about what Tonks said.

"Well she speaks about him as if he is a stray dog that we just found on the street and don't know what to do with."

Moody rolled his eye as the twins jumped on Hermione's statement; seeing that now was the best time to lighten the mood with some humor.

Fred stood up and looked Dumbledore in the eye with a very serious face. "Yes, professor, can we keep him?"

George remained seated but continued for his brother. "We promise to feed him everyday"

"And take him on walks" Fred smirked.

"And make sure he doesn't get sick" George quipped.

"With a little training he might make a good show snake, don't you think so?" Fred asked his twin. "Oh sure, groom him up a bit and he'll be a fine specimen"

"He'll need a leash and muzzle though, I don't think Malfoy will last around those teeth of his" Ginny suddenly added, referring to Tom's quick wit and sarcastic comebacks. Most of her color had returned and she seemed much better now that it was clear this Tom wasn't going to suck her soul out...yet.

"Or any Slytherin who crosses him for that matter" Ron mumbled, his ears going red.

The adults of the room seemed both surprised and relieved that the children were taking this news so well, at least for the moment. Dumbledore especially was pleased beyond punch, so much in fact that he was moving onto lemon drops.

"Yes, I think it would indeed be wise to let Tom know we are 'keeping him' as it were, and I don't think he would be all too happy about being groomed, walked...Eh, perhaps not, fed, yes I'm sure he would love to be fed."

The twins bowed and started to receive applause from Sirius, while the others all sneered or grinned; yes, any teen would love to be fed.

Dumbledore then turned his gaze to Ginny.

"My dear I do know that a muzzle would not help keep Tom from tearing into anyone who crosses him, he would just chew through it."

Everyone laughed at how true that statement was. Even when they thought he was Harry they had not been able to keep him from running his mouth when he should have kept quiet. Five minutes later found the meeting finished and children properly reminded of the deception they had to help keep up, and the Order filed out of the kitchen a person at a time until only Moody was left with Dumbledore.

"Oh and Alastor, if you could be so kind as to ask Tom if I might be able to have my Deluminator back? I think he has had enough time to study it by now, hmm?" he asked, his eyes twinkling full force as Moody fumbled in his pockets for the small, silver trinket he had on him earlier in the evening.

"Why that sneaky little son of a-"

"Alastor, Tom was kleptomaniac the first time around, apparently that part of him as re-awakened. Don't be too hard on him, I think this urge will come in handy soon and might even save not only his life, but many others as well"

Moody nodded stiffly and left the room, heading off to the study in order to fetch the stolen artifact from Tom and damning Dumbledore's twinkling eyes. "The Headmaster wants that back Riddle" he blurted out once he entered the room, not even making sure the lad was still there.

Tom looked over his book at the Auror with an expression that stated he had no idea what he was talking about. "The trinket you nicked off me, the Headmaster wants it back, it is his after all."

A flash of silver sailed across the room and Moody caught it in his left hand with ease.

"Could've just told me right off what you wanted...What's it called?"

"A Deluminator, something of his own invention" and with that, he strode out of the room, making way to a gaggle of red heads and one brown who were trying to get in.

Tom swallowed thickly and placed the book, with the page on Animagi marked, down on the table nearest him. He then fixed each of his friends with a neutral look before licking his lips in anticipation of an argument. Ginny spoke first, while the rest all shifted from one foot to another in embarrassment.

"Look, Dumbledore told us that nothing's changed, only your looks and your name pretty much...oh and your understanding of Voldemort" she then looked over at the others as if begging them to help keep the peace.

Tom nodded slowly and watched as Ron looked fit to burst, his ears, face and neck all turning red. Hermione, tears in her eyes, suddenly darted from her spot near the twins as Tom stood up and gave him a bone crushing hug that almost knocked him over.

Ginny soon followed suit, then the twins came over and patted him on the back, then Ron ambled over and looked at him from under his red fringe. "So, guess that means we won't be able to say nasty things about Tom Riddle any more then...Like the Riddle-Piddle" His face got even redder, though Tom figured it was because he was afraid of the other boy's reaction to his statement.

But Tom only blinked "The what?"

The twins started cackling like mad, pounding their fists on their thighs and the girls pulled away from him with grins on their faces, even though tears still shone in their eyes.

"The Riddle-Piddle" Fred started, now gasping for air.

"Is a fantastic new toy for those who hate Voldemort and want to show it"

"Ginny got the idea from the whole diary incident of her first year"

"Seeing as the diary spent most of its time either in the girls bathroom"

"Or under it"

Ginny then pulled out what appeared to be the prototype of said new toy from a bag that was laying in the room, but Tom swore it wasn't there a moment ago. He couldn't keep a straight face when he saw it.

There, sitting on a porcelain throne was a near perfect rendition of serpentine Voldemort. He was seated in the 'thinker pose' and was sculpted in such a way, that he resembled a Muggle Movie Oscar and thus didn't need clothes. But he did have a face and that is what made him look like Voldemort, otherwise he was just an Oscar in the 'thinker pose'.

"That is bloody brill, you thought that up?" Ginny nodded enthusiastically while poking at the prototype's face.

"Yep, I came up with the idea, they coined the name" The twins bowed to imaginary applause and Tom took the prototype in hand and studied it closely with a frown.

"But you're missing something very important" he said with a sneer.

They all frowned at Tom's words. "What?" came the unified response.

"Nagini, his bitchy familiar. She's a snake and should have some sappy expression on her face I think"

None of the adults left in the house _couldn't _hear the loud, side-stitching laughter that poured out of the study and not even the screeching of Mrs. Black's portrait could drown it out.

AN:

_No I won't make them all accept him right off the bat and just because they seem like they accept it, it may be an act to hide more sinister cruelty for later...*cough* Ron *cough*. GOF much?_


	4. The Biggest Fool of them all

**Chapter four: The Biggest Fool of them all.**

Time flew by as the teens tried bullying various Order members for information with little success. Ginny was quite miffed that Tom wouldn't use that special skill of his to wheedle the information they wanted, seeing as he would have little difficulty doing it. But the former Slytherin simply shook his head and clucked his tongue every time someone mentioned it.

Their time, mostly Tom's, was spent either reading, having little spats with Kreacher, the House Elf that served the Black family, or cleaning the house. Tom had been surprised to learn that there was a House Elf here, seeing as the place was in need of some work, and kept arguing with Sirius and Dumbledore about the lack of help he was getting in forcing the Elf to work.

"He is suppose to be cleaning this house! That is what his kind do!"

They never listened, however, and just shooed him off with the rest of the kids to do the cleaning and Tom could only be reminded of working at the Dursleys. But the days counting up to his hearing just didn't last long enough and soon he was sitting at the table across from a very sleepy Tonks with a lead weight in his stomach. Sirius was there next to him, making some crack joke with Remus, who was seated opposite him, while Molly was bustling about near the pot on the fire.

"Anything you really want for breakfast this morning, Tom?"

Tom looked at his hands, which were clasped together in his lap, for a long moment, before raising his head up and smiling weakly. "No, I don't think I can handle anything this morning really, to be quite honest, I feel as if there is no room for food."

Molly sighed a little, but nodded in understanding. She came and placed a bit of buttered toast in front of him before starting to mess with the back of his shirt and smoothing out the wrinkles in his coat. She then went after his hair, but Tom felt it coming and dodged the wet comb before it touched his hair.

"Er, no thanks...I think it should be this way, really, I mean everyone knows Harry's hair sticks up" he said lamely, which didn't stop Molly from dragging his head over to her once more and attacking his head with the comb.

"Non-sense. It should lay flat-"

"But won't someone recognize me if it does?"

Everyone paused for a moment and Arthur, who had just entered about the time Molly had tried to comb Tom's hair the first time, gave Tom a good looking over and nodded over at his wife. "Yes, I think he is right..Too many of them will have been at the school when Tom was, so they will remember him."

Molly huffed a little bit, but brushed the hair down just a tad anyways. "That way you don't look like you haven't tried to run a comb through it."

Tonks smirked slightly, while both Remus and Sirius exchanged amused glances at Tom's obvious discomfort as Molly kept trying to toss the hair one way or another. "Please, Mrs. Weasley, it's fine...really it is!"

"Disciplinary hearing of the twelfth of August," started Fudge "into offences committed under the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and the International Statute of Secrecy by" here he paused so as to pretend he didn't really know who was seated before him.

"Harry James Potter, resident of number four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey...I think that's it." he sneered, looking quite happy that Tom was paling with each word that was spoken.

"Interrogators are: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister for Magic; Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement;"

Again he paused, this time to stare at Tom, as if only just now realizing the boy in front of him looked a little different from the last time he saw him. Shrugging, the Minister just returned to looking at the pre-scripted paper on the podium and took a moment to find his place.

"Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister. Court Scribe, Percy Ignatius Weasley -"

Here Tom couldn't help but send an unnoticed-by-Percy glare, that made all those present who had seen it, shift a bit in their seats. Fudge had been one of those who did see the glare and took this opportunity to make Tom squirm again. Fudge brought in a deep breath and said in a carrying voice full of arrogance:

"The charges against the accused are as follows: That he did knowingly, deliberately and in full awareness of the illegality of his actions, produce a Patronus Charm in a Muggle-inhabited area, in the presence of a Muggle, on the second of August at twenty-three minutes past nine, which constitutes an offence under Paragraph C of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875, and also under Section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy."

Tom thought hard about this, knowing full well that what Fudge was doing would put him, Tom, away for a very long time if the Minister succeeded, and the problem was that Tom couldn't do anything about it; he had cast the charm knowing all of the above to be true at the time he cast it.

"You are Harry James Potter, of number four, Privet Drive?" Fudge asked, sending a very searing glare at Tom as he spoke.

"Yes," Tom finally answered after only two seconds of hesitation, which did not go unnoticed by Fudge.

"You, Harry James Potter, received a warning from the Ministry for using magic three years ago in the presence of Muggles, did you not?"

Tom flinched "Yes, but -"

"And yet you still conjured a Patronus on the night of the second of August? Knowing full well that you were breaking many laws?" said Fudge.

"Yes," said Tom, his mouth getting dryer, "but I-"

"Knowing that one of those laws was that you are not permitted to use magic outside school while you are under the age of seventeen?"

"Yes, but -"

"Knowing that you were not only in an area that was full of Muggles who could have seen you if they looked, but that you had one with you at the time?"

"Yes, but we were -"

A witch with a monocle leaned forward and cut across him in a booming voice that demanded respect.

"You produced a fully-fledged Patronus?"

"Yes," said Tom slowly, eyeing her a bit, "because -"

"A corporeal Patronus?"

"Yes" said Tom, now keeping his focus on the witch he now recognized to be Madam Bones.

"It was a stag" he said after catching himself. "It was always a stag."

"Always?" boomed Madam Bones. "You have produced a Patronus before now? And what do you mean, was?"

"Yes," said Tom, "I've been doing it for over a year...well, almost two now. And it was a Stag when I cast it the first time at thirteen, then again that night in August, but it changed to a Thestral halfway through." he added, thinking it best to bring that up in cast someone asked him to show them or he ever had to cast it again for protection.

"And you are fifteen years old, correct?"

"Yes, and -"

"You learned this at school did you?"

"Yes, Professor Remus Lupin taught me in my third year, because of the Dem -"

"Impressive," said Madam Bones, "a true Patronus at his age… very impressive indeed."

Quite a few of the wizards and witches were starting to talk among themselves, some were nodding, while others were frowning and shaking their heads.

"It's not a question of how impressive the magic was," said Fudge, now turning a nice shade of puce "in fact, the more impressive the magic, the worse it is seeing as the boy preformed it in plain view of a Muggle!"

Those who had been frowning now murmured in agreement, but it was the sight of Percy's little nod to Fudge and the fact the Fudge was smirking as if the battle had been won, that made Tom jump into action.

"I did it because there were Dementors in the area!" he said loudly, before anyone could interrupt him again. Total silence fell around him as many of the witches and wizards there all froze midway through whatever actions they had been in the process of completing.

"Dementors?" said Madam Bones after a moment of almost gaping, her monocle falling out as she spoke because her eyebrows had raised entirely too much. "What do you mean, boy?"

Tom sighed "I mean there were two Dementors down that alleyway and I had to act quickly! They attacked me and Du... my cousin." he finished in a quieter tone, almost slipping up and calling Dudley by his name.

"Ah," said Fudge again, smirking unpleasantly as he looked around at the Wizengamot. "Yes, I was sure we'd hear something of this nature." he said smugly, now leaning over his podium to stare down at Tom with a nasty grin plastered on his face; one that reminded the teen of Vernon.

"Dementors in Little Whinging?" Madam Bones said, quite surprised. "I believe I don't understand What-"

"Don't you, Amelia?" said Fudge, now smiling broadly, not taking his eyes off of Tom as he continued. "Let me explain. He's been thinking it through for a while it seems, and decided Dementors would make a very nice cover story for this stunt, very nice indeed. Muggles can't see Dementors at all, can they boy? Hmm? Highly convenient, don't you think? So it's just your word and no witnesses to the event…"

"I'm not lying!" Tom snarled loudly, over another outbreak of muttering from the court, forgetting that he was suppose to be playing the scared teen. "There were two of them, coming from opposite ends of the alley. They started their attack when everything went dark and cold, which caused my cousin to run for it! Clearly he felt -"

"Enough! That will be quite enough out of you..." said Fudge, still grinning down at Tom from his perch. "I'm terribly sorry to interrupt what I'm sure was a very well-rehearsed story -"

There was a cough from behind the chair Tom was seated in and the young man turned to see who had stopped Fudge from finishing. Dumbledore was seated in a plush armchair, directly behind Tom, his legs were crossed and his hands were steepled in front of him; eyes twinkling a little as he glanced at Tom.

Tom smiled back and then turned to face a deflating Fudge with his trademark Slytherin smirk; now they had the Minister pinned.

"We do, in fact, have a witness to the presence of Dementors in that alleyway," he started, keeping his hands steepled in front of him and eyeing the court as he spoke "other than Dudley Dursley."

Fudge glared down at Dumbledore and Tom for a moment or two, then said, "We haven't got time to listen to any more of this rubbish, Dumbledore. I want this dealt with quickly -"

"I may be wrong," said Dumbledore pleasantly, but his now visible face was far from matching his voice "but I am sure that under the Wizengamot Charter of Rights, the accused has the right to present a witnesses or more for his or her defense? Isn't that the policy of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Madam Bones?" he continued, addressing the witch with the monocle that was now back in its proper place.

"True," said Madam Bones carefully. "Perfectly true."

"Oh, very well." snapped Fudge, his patients wearing thin at this point. "Where is this person that is to be the witness to supposed Dementor attack?"

"I brought her with me, actually" said Dumbledore with a smile. "She's just outside the door. Should I fetch her now?"

"No...Weasley, you go," Fudge barked at Percy, who got up at once and ran down the stone steps from the judge's balcony not looking at Dumbledore or Tom as he passed them.

A moment later, Percy returned looking quite put out, followed by Mrs. Figg. She looked scared but oddly enough, she seemed to be standing tall...well as tall as she could stand.

She took a seat near Tom and shot him a quick glance, then did a double take and gaped. For a moment, Tom feared she may start spouting that he wasn't Harry and had to be an imposter, but Mrs. Figg just looked back up at Fudge and sunk into the chair Dumbledore had allowed her to take from him.

"Full name and make sure you get it right, I don't want to have to ask you which side of the family is what." said Fudge loudly, when Mrs. Figg had finally made eye contact. Both Dumbledore and Tom looked at each other with identical startled expressions; what was Fudge on about?

"Arabella Doreen Figg," said Mrs. Figg in her quavery voice, now appearing to be worried about how the Minister had addressed her.

"Ah, and who exactly are you?" asked Fudge.

"I'm a resident of Little Whinging, close to where Harry Potter lives," said Mrs. Figg, sparing Tom another quick look that he didn't return.

"We have-" Madam Bones started, but was cut off by a livid Fudge.

"No record of any witch or wizard living in Little Whinging, other than Harry Potter himself" he snapped, glaring over at Dumbledore, who was now starting to wonder why Cornelius

was acting so strange, violent almost.

"I'm a Squib," said Mrs. Figg quietly. "So you wouldn't have me registered, now would you? Seeing as I'm not much of anybody according to the law." she finished, sounding a bit stronger as if this vicious attack on her status as a member of the Wizarding community was giving her strength.

"A Squib?" said Fudge. "We'll be checking that just to make sure. You'll leave details of your parentage with my assistant Weasley, make sure you have a family tree or something"

He started to motion over at Percy to take that down and then, without looking at her, he barked, "Well? Begin!"

Startled into speech, Mrs. Figg glanced over at a grave looking Dumbledore as she spoke.

"I had gone out to buy cat food from the corner shop at the end of Wisteria Walk, around nine o'clock, that evening, when I heard a disturbance down the alleyway between Magnolia Crescent and Wisteria Walk. When I approached the entrance to the alleyway I saw Dementors Gliding along the alley towards what looked like two boys."

She paused for a moment, wringing her purse in her hands as she thought hard about how to continue.

"What did they look like?" said Madam Bones, narrowing her eyes so much that the edge of the monocle appeared to cut into her flesh.

"Well, one was very large and the other one rather skinny, now that I think on it -"

"No, no," said Madam Bones impatiently, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "The Dementors, not the boys… describe them for the court."

"Oh," said Mrs. Figg, a pink flush now starting on her cheeks "They were big, well, tall actually. Tall and wearing black cloaks. They looked to be floating."

In the second row, a wizard with a large black moustache leaned close to whisper in the ear of his neighbor, a frizzy-haired witch. She smirked and nodded while pointing at Fudge.

"Tall and wearing cloaks," repeated Madam Bones coolly, not repeating the important part about them floating, while Fudge snorted and started to drum his fingers on the podium. "I see. Anything else about them?"

"Yes," said Mrs. Figg. "I felt them. Everything went icy cold, and this was a very warm summer's night, mind you, blazing hot. And I felt. as though all happiness had been sucked from the world around me, and I remembered. dreadful things from so long ago." Her voice shook and died off, as though someone had silenced her with a spell.

Madam Bones's eyes widened slightly. Tom could just make out the red marks under her eyebrow where the monocle had dug into it. The rest of the room was silent, deathly silent, even Fudge had paled far too much to pass it off as anger. He shot a few looks at his fellows before looking back down at Figg.

"What did the Dementors do?" Bones asked, and Tom felt a rush of worry; what if she told them about the Thestral coming out right off the bat?.

"They went for the boys," said Mrs. Figg, her voice more confident now, the pink flush ebbing away from her face a little. "One of them had fallen, the fatter one. The other skinny one was backing away, trying to repel the Dementor. That was Harry of course. He tried twice and produced only silver vapour, a lot of it though. On the third attempt, he produced a Patronus, which charged down the first Dementor and then chased the second one away from his cousin rather viciously. It looked like some kind of winged thing...oh it had horns I think first... And that is what happened," Mrs. Figg finished calmly, looking over at Dumbledore while Tom breathed heavily next to her; horns, well maybe it had been a stag for a few seconds and he just hadn't noticed it until it went after the other Dementor.

Madam Bones looked down at Mrs. Figg in silence, though anyone could see the wheels in her head working. Fudge was not looking at her at all now, but fidgeting with his papers in a way that stated he might actually believe her, if only because she seemed to be quite sure of what she saw. Finally, he raised his eyes and said, quietly, "that's what you saw, is it?"

Tom stiffened up. That tone was one he himself had used many a time when he was beyond angry at one of his followers. He mentally slapped himself though after the thought had completed; _he_ didn't have followers, Voldemort did.

"Yes" Mrs. Figg answered.

"Very well," said Fudge. "You may go."

Mrs. Figg cast a frightened look from Fudge to Dumbledore, then got up and shuffled off towards the door. "Not a very convincing witness," said Fudge in same tone as before, though now even Dumbledore detected the strangeness of it.

"Oh, I don't know," said Madam Bones "She certainly described the effects of a Dementor attack very accurately. And-"

Fudge shot her a look that cut her off "But Dementors wandering into a Muggle suburb and just happening to come across a wizard? This very special wizard" snarled Fudge. "The odds on that are very slim indeed. Even Bagman wouldn't have bet on that..." he trailed off, seemingly thinking on that last part as Dumbledore came around to stand in front of a paling Tom.

"Oh, I don't think any of us believe the Dementors were there by coincidence," said Dumbledore lightly.

A witch, that Tom hadn't noticed before, who was sitting to the right of Fudge, with her face in shadow, moved slightly but was the only one who did.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Fudge asked icily, eyes narrowed on the older wizard.

"It means that I think they were ordered there," Dumbledore replied simply.

"I think we would have a record of it if someone had ordered a pair of Dementors to patrol Little Whinging!" barked Fudge.

"Not if the Dementors are taking orders from someone other than the Ministry of Magic these days," said Dumbledore calmly. "I have already given you my views on this matter, Cornelius."

"Yes, you have, multiple times"' said Fudge forcefully, "and I have no reason to believe that your views are anything other than-" He paused for just a second before exploding "The Dementors remain in place in Azkaban and are doing everything we tell them to!."

"Then," said Dumbledore, quietly but clearly, having not missed that Fudge had said 'we tell them to', not 'we ask them to' as should be the case.

"We must ask ourselves why somebody within the Ministry ordered a pair of Dementors into that alleyway on the second of August."

In the complete silence that greeted these words, the witch to the right of Fudge leaned forwards so that Tom saw her for the first time and he didn't like what he saw. There, in all her glory, was

Dolores Jane Umbridge. She had been a couple of years behind him in school, a Slytherin, and in fact, she had always followed him around like some kind of lost puppy, looking for ways to please him. At first he had found it amusing, until he noticed she had a very similar personality to his own and it was then that he figured out she was just trying to use what she thought was a popular student with good connections.

"The Chair recognizes Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister," said Fudge in a bored tone.

The witch spoke in a fluttery, girlish, high-pitched voice that took Tom aback; he had been expecting a croak this time, she was older after all

"I'm sure I must have misunderstood you, Professor Dumbledore," she said, with a simper that left her big, round eyes as cold as ever. "So silly of me. But it sounded for a teeninsy moment as though you were suggesting that the Ministry of Magic had ordered the supposed attack on this boy!"

Tom groaned. _'Here we go...'_

"Not at all, but if it is true that the Dementors are taking orders only from the Ministry of Magic, and it is also true that two Dementors attacked Harry and his cousin a week ago, then it follows logically that somebody at the Ministry might have ordered the attacks, someone who wanted to be rid of the lad and didn't have the Ministry's laws in mind" said Dumbledore politely. "Of course, these particular Dementors may have been outside Ministry control -"

"There are no Dementors outside Ministry control!" snapped Fudge, who had turned brick red and his eyes seemed oddly misted; glazed might be the right word. Dumbledore inclined his head in a little bow, but kept his eyes on Fudge.

"I would remind everybody that the behavior of these Dementors, if indeed they are not figments of this boy's wildly active imagination, is not the subject of this hearing!"said Fudge, still glaring at both Tom and Dumbledore. "We are here to examine Harry Potter's offences under the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery!"

"Of course we are," said Dumbledore, "but the presence of Dementors-"

"Enough! Do you think me a fool Dumbledore? Perhaps, as a Member of the Wizengamot, you ordered them to kill the boy, hmm? Perhaps you did it to make a point, to force people to believe your cock and bull story about Lord-" Tom's breath caught, and Dumbledore looked on in amazement at what was about to happen.

"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back and on the loose...Maybe you are the one everybody should be keeping an eye on, it was you, after all, who lost the boy during the Tournament and hired someone who was impersonating a supposedly old friend of yours and you didn't even notice!"

Fudge had a manic look on his face and Tom was starting to get the prickly feeling of Dark Magic nearby, yet he couldn't pin-point it. Dumbledore was staring, speechless at Fudge.

"Besides, Potter very well could have been assisting you in the whole affair, as he was the last one seen with the Hufflepuff who was killed that night! Perhaps you had him kill the poor boy and then staged everything else! And don't get me started on the other things he gets up to at school"

"But, as the Ministry has no authority to punish Hogwarts students for misdemeanors at school, Harry's behavior there is not relevant to this hearing," said Dumbledore, as politely as ever, but now with a suggestion of coolness behind his words as he continued. "Furthermore, I don't appreciate your insinuations, neither Harry, nor myself had anything to do with the events of the summer or the Tournament. That _was _Voldemort"

Everyone was quiet now. Tom noticed that a few, even Dolores, seemed cowed at Fudge's outburst and Dumbledore's reply.

"Oho!" said Fudge. "Not our business what he does at school, eh? You think so?"

Madam Bones shook her head and cleared her throat loudly. "Enough...This has gone on for far too long...we have the evidence and it is time to vote. Those in favor of clearing the witness of all charges?" said Madam Bones' booming voice.

Tom's eyes jerked upwards from where they had been resting before, on Fudge, to the rest of the people there. Hands were in the air, many of them… more than half!

Madam Bones nodded, "And those in favor of conviction?"

Fudge raised his hand; so did half a dozen others, including the witch on his right and the heavily-moustached wizard and the frizzy-haired witch in the second row. Fudge glanced around at them all, took two deep breaths and said, in a voice distorted by suppressed rage, "Very well, very well… cleared of all charges."

"That was odd, how he was acting today...not at all how I thought he would" Tom was laying on his back on one of the beds at Number Twelve. The twins and Ginny were still singing "he got off" at the top of their lungs, but Tom had silenced the room so that Molly wouldn't come up there and make the lot of them shut up. Ron was also laying on his back, only on the floor next to Tom's bed, frowning slightly at what Tom had told him and the other members of the house earlier.

It bothered Tom, how the Minister had acted and how Dumbledore had rushed out of the courtroom without speaking with Tom at all, not even looking at him. Arthur had said it might have to do with the fact that he was worried about how the whole ordeal had played out. Tom didn't think so; Dumbledore knew something and he was hiding it.

The next few days saw Sirius and Tom up to no good in Sirius' mum's room. Loud bangs and strange smells could be heard from inside and even the occasional squawk from Buckbeak, who was shut in the room with them.

On the very last day of the holidays, however, Tom was gathering up his things that he planned to bring to the school from the inside of the wardrobe when Ron entered their bedroom carrying a couple of envelopes.

"Booklists have arrived," he said, throwing one of the envelopes at Tom, who was standing near the bed. "About time too, I thought they'd forgotten, they usually come much earlier than this…"

Tom grunted and opened his letter. It contained two pieces of parchment: one the usual reminder that term started on the first of September; the other telling him which books he would obviously need for the coming year.

"Only two new ones," he said, reading the list.

*Crack!*

Fred and George Apparated right beside Tom, who was so used to them doing this by now that he didn't even flinch.

"We were just wondering who assigned the Slinkhard book," said Fred conversationally.

"Because it means Dumbledore's found a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," said George.

"And about time too," said Fred.

"I'm sure they'll be pants at it just as much as the others...save for Remus and Crouch" Tom said with a smile, not really caring who the teacher was because this year he had plans.

"What's up with you, Ron?" asked Fred, suddenly looking worried at their silent brother.

Ron did not answer. Tom looked round and blinked slowly. Ron was standing very still with his mouth slightly open, gaping at his letter from Hogwarts.

"What's the matter? Someone put spiders in there or something?" said Fred impatiently, moving around Ron to look over his shoulder at the parchment, Fred's mouth fell open too.

"Prefect?" he said, staring incredulously at the letter. _**"Prefect?"**_

George leapt forwards, seized the envelope in Ron's other hand and turned it upside-down. Tom saw something scarlet and gold fall into George's palm.

"No way," said George in a hushed voice, looking horrified at the idea.

"There's been a terrible mistake," said Fred, snatching the letter out of Ron's grasp. The twins' heads turned in unison and both of them stared at Tom with their eyes nearly bugging out.

"We thought you were a cert! You've already been one!" said Fred, in a tone that suggested Tom had tricked them, that it was a joke. "Though I suppose all the mad stuff must've counted against him," said George to Fred.

"Yeah," said Fred slowly. "Yeah, you've caused way too much trouble, mate. In the last life and this one." he said with a grin and clapped Tom on the back while giving Ron a look that could kill.

Ron, who still had not said a word, took the badge, stared at it for a moment, then held it out to Tom as though asking for confirmation that it was genuine. Tom took it. A large P was superimposed on the Gryffindor lion. "Yep, you're the real deal Ronnikins...Well, guess my days of opening the chamber and petrifying people are over, eh? No more raising of dark armies or plotting to overthrow the government...well, the overthrowing of the government might be a good idea anyways..." he said all of this with a serious face, a firm tone and a no-nonsense posture.

He tossed the badge back to Ron and glanced at the others who were standing in the door way. Ginny and Hermione were staring, mouths agape, while Sirius, Remus, and Moody were all frozen with looks of worry.

Both of the twins started to cackle madly, which set off Ginny, Hermione and Remus. Moody flung his hands into the air and stomped out of the room bellowing to the rest of the house about Ascending Dark Lords and their terrible jokes, while Sirius and Ron both shot Tom a grin that made the whole world right; it didn't matter that Voldemort was killing people or that Tom might join those thousands who have died under the Yew wand someday. Today was perfect, he had friends and, dare he say it, a family that would be at his side no matter what kind of trouble he got into.

_AN:_

_Whoa, that was a long one..._

_Well, off to do another chapter of the other story..._

_And yes, I did use the Order of the Phoenix Book as reference for the court scene, though it was the audio version, so I had to remember what was said...*Shrugs*_

_Hope it was alright.._

_TTFN!_


	5. If it can happen, it will

**Chapter Five: If it can happen, it will.**

"Better get a move on, Tom. Mum's gone mental again, says we're going to miss the train" Ron said, rolling his eyes as he removed his head from the room and thundered down the stairs, from the sound of it, three at a time.

Tom, who was pulling the last of his stuff out from under his bed and tossing it into his trunk, smirked at the very idea of Molly worrying about him missing the train when both he and Ron had proven they could get to Hogwarts in a car if the need ever came. Just thinking of the Second year incident caused Tom to frown as he focused on his best friend.

Lately Ron had been sticking to his side like glue, always following him around or 'just checking in' whenever Tom was alone with someone for any amount of time. Tom really didn't know what to make of it; either Ron liked him more as Tom than he did when he knew him as Harry, or the youngest male Weasley was keeping an eye on what he thought was a threat. The very idea that something close to what happened during the Tri-Wizard Tournament, could strike again, made the Ex-Slytherin shiver with dread._ 'I don't need this kind of angst, it's bad enough I have to go back as someone I'm not, but to deal with the idiocy of an insecure teenaged wizard who is suppose to be my friend on top of that?'_ Tom snorted out a reply to a head, Ron's head, that had managed to float back into the room and gaze at him. "Coming, just making sure I didn't lose a quill or something" Ron nodded and left.

Just as he exited the room with his trunk to follow Ron down the stairs, there was a horrible, ear splitting shriek from what Tom knew to be the 'demon' portrait that he had told to shut up on multiple occasions. She had for the first few times, probably because she remembered him, but it didn't last long. Soon she was screaming _at_ him as well, sometimes it was pretty nasty and a passing Sirius actually muttered "My virgin ears" a few times after hearing her.

Right now her voice was drowned out by Molly's screams of justified anger at the twins. "WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT THAT! JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN USE MAGIC OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL NOW DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAVE TO USE IT ALL THE TIME! YOU COULD HAVE KILLED YOUR SISTER WITH THAT STUNT! JUST YOU TRY THAT AGAIN...I'LL MAKE SURE THAT'S THE LAST THING YOU EVER DO!"

Ron continued down with his trunk, without slowing, as if his mother wasn't shouting about murdering his brothers right in front of him, but Tom paused at the head of the stairs to bat away a resurfacing memory of his past; shouting had always been present in the orphanage, and when it was directed at him, it was almost always in anger. "YOU LOT GET DOWN HERE NOW!...PLEASE!"

Tom jumped a little, pulled out of his trance by the shout and the bump to his side that he received from Hermione, who was attempting to get by him with her own trunk. "Sorry, dozed off..." he muttered to her as he drug the trunk the rest of the way down and set it near the entrance to the hall with the others' stuff. Hermione ran over and did the same, before leaning in close and whispering in an amused tone "You can doze off on your feet after sleeping all night?". Tom just jerked his head in annoyance and turned to face a no longer shouting Molly.

"Yes, yes, that's good Tom, just leave it there. Alastor's going to deal with it all..." she trailed off at the sound of something heavy and perhaps wooden, sliding, then giving an almighty crash as it landed on the floor behind them. "Oh, by Merlin...Sirius! Dumbledore said no for a reason!"

Sirius, or Padfoot as he was at the moment, had bounded over to where the luggage was piled, and had tried to climb up and over the clutter in the hall. His tail started to wag faster once he had been spotted and finally, with one good kick of his hind legs, he freed himself from the luggage, sending the rest scattering about. Panting happily, he made it over to where Tom and Hermione were standing just as Tom shook his head. "He can't come with..." Tom started, looking over at Molly with a worried expression.

"You can't come, something could happen." Tom said, looking down at Padfoot now as Molly just nodded. Padfoot just tilted his head and wagged his tail even faster. "Tom's right Sirius and you know it. Dumbledore has told you why-"

But Padfoot wasn't listening, Tom had started to leave, with a lecturing Molly and silent Hermione in tow. The black, bear of a dog trotted quickly to catch up with Tom, none of the humans noticed he was following them until the door hit something solid when Tom closed it without looking; he had been asking Molly where the other 'guards' were.

"Padfoot! No!" he shouted in vain. The black dog just yelped in pain and darted the rest of the way out of the doorway and then sat down in front of Tom with a pitiful look about him. "I can't take you with to school, plus you could get seen out there!"

But the dog just lowered his head and started to whine. That did it. That was the one thing Tom couldn't stand in any form, from any species. "Fine! If you want to end up stuffed and on display in Voldemort's headquarters, so be it!" he huffed, stomping off to meet up with an irritated Molly and a rather amused looking old woman. Hermione appeared to be trying her hardest not to smile, if the tightness around her eyes and mouth were anything to go by.

"Wotcher, Tom" the old lady greeted, earning a smirk and a ribbing from Tom.

"Oh so you aren't actually a good looking young lady then?" Tonks just stuck her tongue out at him and tapped her watch. "Looks like we'll be late if we don't hurry". Molly just moaned "I know, but if this..." she pointed with a sweeping motion of her hand toward a trotting Padfoot "Hadn't tried to squeeze through the door, Tom wouldn't have had to stop and we would be a few minutes up the road..."

The rest of the walk was either spent shouting at Padfoot to stop chasing the birds and cats, or in total silence as they listened for any sign of trouble following them to the station. "Hope the others make it here soon...Cutting it close" Molly mumbled once they made it onto Platform Nine and Three-quarters. "They've got time though" Hermione swiftly replied, glancing over at Tom who was bent over giving Padfoot a good bully rub.

"Hey Harry! Nice dog!" Lee shouted from near the train. "Thanks!" Tom shouted back, pinning Padfoot to the floor with the hand that had been doing the rubbing, in case someone looked to see what kind of dog he had; they would be hard pressed to identify him in this position.

"Oh good," said Molly, sounding extremely relieved and rushing forward, "Here's Alastor now with the luggage, let's get this loaded up."

Sure enough, limping towards them and sporting a porter's cap that was pulled low over his mismatched eyes, was Mad-Eye Moody. He was pushing a trolley loaded with their trunks with incredible ease and growled something under his breath before he addressed Molly. "Everything's okay for the moment...Don't think we were followed, though I'll not bet anything on it"

Tom snorted and let Padfoot get to his feet just as Arthur showed up with Ron and Ginny, then two minutes later, Lupin with the twins. "Alright?" Moody asked as soon as Lupin was close enough. "Nothing to report" came the quiet reply. Moody nodded and made a comment about Podmore not showing up, and the stupid idea of a certain mutt to follow them here, while Lupin shook everyone's hands.

"You lot keep out of trouble, and watch what you put in writing" he said in a serious tone, glancing over at Padfoot as if stating 'even when writing to an Order member'.

"You and I are going to have a talk once we're done here" Lupin added to Padfoot, who slowly walked away from the pair with suspicious eyes.

"Right, Constant Vigilance, never let your guard down...Especially around this one" Moody jabbed his thumb at Tom. It took the young man all of two seconds to realize that Moody was teasing him. "I wouldn't hurt prospective followers, Mad-Eye, you know that" he replied in a near whisper, that the old Auror waved off with a barked "Still!"

The whistle sounded in warning, which got everyone moving to board the train, some nearly tripping over an excited Padfoot. Said dog was jumping up in front of everyone as they climbed aboard, before darting back to try another person.

"Quick, quick," said Molly distractedly, hugging them all for a brief moment, except Tom, whom she held a little longer for some reason. "Write" she said, patting Tom on the cheek and looking at Ginny "… behave" Here she looked at Ron and the twins "… if you've forgotten anything important we'll send it to you" she glanced at them all while they peeked from a compartment they had found near the door. " if it isn't" here she paused to glare at the twins newly-appearing-in-the-window heads "Then it will stay where it is… Now on the train, hurry…" Hermione jumped on and quickly found her place in the compartment.

Padfoot tilted his head again in confusion as Tom boarded the train without saying goodbye to him, well the boy had, but it was only a bully rub and a clipped 'take care now'. The dog approached the train slowly, looking up at the windows to catch a glimpse of his Godson, but failed to do so due to the fact that said young man was on the non-window side of the seat. Ron had taken the spot near the widow on one side, with Hermione on the other; they looked like they were shielding Tom from view, perhaps to protect him. Padfoot glanced over and noticed a familiar blonde headed, male Slytherin look his way. He had the desire to growl at the boy, but decided to settle for a happy pant instead; it felt safer to do that. Said Slytherin just stared at the panting dog for a moment, before shrugging and smiling at the animal as he too boarded the train. Padfoot turned around and started to head back toward Lupin and the gang with his tail wagging slowly.

"See you for Christmas!" Ron and Hermione called out of the open window just as the train began to move.

Ginny waved beside them, with Tom leaning over her to squeeze between Ron and Hermione.

Tonks, Lupin, Moody, Arthur and Molly shrank rapidly as the train sped up but the black dog that Tom was looking for was nowhere in sight. "Funny, I thought Padfoot would have stayed to see us off. Think one of the Order told him to leave seeing as Lee had said something?" Tom mused to his compartment mates.

"I don't know, but he shouldn't have come with us in the first place," Hermione said in a worried voice.

"But he hasn't been outside in months...Can't blame him for wanting out now can we?" said Ron. Fred and George frowned a little for a moment, then Fred clapped his hands together and motioned with his head to his twin to start walking backwards. "Well, can't stand here chatting with you lot all day, we've got business with Lee to attend to! See you!" The two of them then disappeared out of the compartment and down corridor to the right.

"Well, that was fun...Anyone want to read up on Animagi?" Tom pulled out a rather large advanced Transfiguration book from a small bag he had slung on his back, that no one seemed to have noticed before now. The book was so big, that he could hide his head and perhaps his shoulders as well, behind it should he like to do so.

"Er, we're - well - suppose to, er" Started Ron, looking down at his shoes as Hermione just shook her head. "We're suppose to go to the Prefect's Carriage" she said, pulling Ron toward the door and looking at Tom with an awkward expression.

"Right, forgot, Prefect duties...Well off you trot!" Tom said lazily, not looking up from his book and waving his left hand at them in dismissal. Both Ron and Hermione took their trunks, their pets, and left the area. Now it was just Ginny and Tom, sitting across from each other, one reading a book, the other just staring out the window.

"You could sit by the window you know, better view" Tom's voice startled Ginny and she quickly scooted over to the window. "Yeah, better view..." she mumbled, blushing some in embarrassment. The door to their compartment suddenly flew open and Neville Longbottom stuck his head in and smiled at them.

"Mind if I join you?" he asked, pulling his trunk along behind him and maintaining a one-handed grip on his struggling toad. Ginny smiled and shook her head, just as Tom, who had yet to look up from his reading, said "Nope", popping the 'P' as he turned a page.

Neville's eyes landed on Tom, then back to Ginny, then did a double take back to Tom. "Harry? Is that you?" Now Tom had to look up so as to keep up his guise as Harry Potter. He smiled widely, though it wasn't fake, at Neville and nodded. "Yep" again he popped the 'P', then motioned to the empty seats around him. "Plenty of room here"

The clumsy Gryffindor grinned and took a seat next to Ginny, just as the door opened again to admit a rather dreamy looking girl with dirty, waist length blonde hair. The girl gave off an aura of the supremely unnatural. Perhaps it was because she had stuck her wand behind her ear for safekeeping, or that she was wearing a necklace of Butterbeer corks...No, it was the fact, that even though she was entering the compartment and should be watching where she was going, she was instead, reading a very odd magazine upside-down.

Ginny looked up at her as she entered "Oh, hi Luna. Looking for a place to sit?" Tom's eyes went from his book, back to the girl that was now sitting down next to him, still not looking away from her own reading material, and nodding. But she seemed to have gotten bored with whatever she was reading, for she looked up over the top of it and started to scan the compartment, locking eyes with the occupants.

"Had a good summer, Luna?" Ginny asked with a quick grin towards a near sputtering Tom.

"Yes," said Luna dreamily, her eyes now locked with Tom's. Without taking her eyes off Tom, she continued. "Yes, it was quite enjoyable, many things happened the way they should and others that don't matter didn't happen at all...you know, you're Harry Potter," she added suddenly, changing the subject of the conversation to a slowly reddening Tom.

"I know I am," said Tom after a moment's hesitation.

"You don't seem to think so, or maybe you don't know you are but you think you might not be?" she paused for a moment, still keeping her eyes locked on Tom, who did notice the slight uneasy movement from Ginny out of the corner of his eye.

"Or maybe it was the other way around...You think you might be, but you know you aren't, yet you're still sure of who you are?" Tom blinked, and then made a mental note that this Luna didn't seem to blink as much as a normal human should, nor did she seem to make much sense. She was still staring at him with unnerving, pale, Ollivander like eyes. Another note was that she was quite like him in some ways and that he should keep both his eyes on her whenever she was around.

"This is Neville Longbottom." Ginny said smartly, effectively moving the conversation off of Tom. Luna looked Neville over and then smiled strangely. "Guys, this is Luna Lovegood, she is in my year, but a Ravenclaw"

"Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure," said Luna in a singsong voice, then she raised the magazine, still upside down, high enough to hide her face and fell silent. Tom and Neville raised their eyebrows and shot a glance at one another. Ginny just stuffed her fist in her mouth to stop a giggle.

"Guess what I got for my birthday?" said Neville, breaking the silence after a moment.

"Dunno, a Remembrall? Didn't you lose that other one ages ago?" asked Tom as he looked away from Luna, not at all fond of Neville's grandmother, who had sent Neville the device in an effort to improve the poor lad's memory. It hadn't nor had the gesture been very nice, in Tom's eyes, seeing as Neville was already aware of his memory problems and didn't need _her_ pointing it out.

"No, I could do with another one, though" Said Neville, digging into his school bag with the hand that didn't have Trevor in it. "No, look at this…". He pulled out what Tom recognized immediately as a Mimbulus mimbletonia. He only knew what the damn thing was because Edmond Yaxley, one of his school mates and later Death Eater Follower to Voldemort, had brought one into the dorms one night and proceeded to poke the thing right over the sleeping form of Abraxsis Malfoy. The Dorms had stunk for ages and Slytherin had lost ten points by way of their Head of House because of it.

"Ah yes, the Mumbulus Mimbletonia...:Lovely plant, really" Tom answered, looking at the tiny, grey, pustule covered, catus looking plant in distaste. Neville brightened up at the fact that someone else there seemed to know what it was. "Yeah! It's got an amazing defense, you know?" Neville stated, pointing with the Trevor full hand at the boils on the plant.

"Yes, I know" Tom said slowly, noticing that yet again their space was going to be invaded, though this time the person on the outside didn't stir the same reaction in Tom as she had all of last year. He wasn't quite sure why though.

"Oh, hello Harry...I...well" Cho Chang said, looking a bit nervous and glancing around at his current company. Her eyes stopped on both Luna and then Ginny, their presence seemed to bring whatever kind of conversation she was going to have with Tom to a quick end. "I just wanted to say hello...um...Bye then". Pink in the face, she closed the door and took off down the corridor. Tom just shook his head and muttered something to do with girls that none near him could quite hear.

An hour or so later saw Ron and Hermione back in the Compartment, giving out the details of who was who in the Prefect world. "Malfoy's a Prefect, but I won't get myself worked up over him. I mean, look at what he has around him, they only gave him the badge because no one else in the house could do it." Hermione said with a wave of her hand, only taking to insulting Malfoy because he had called her a Mudblood again in the corridor

"Imagine, making Goyle do lines, it'll kill him for sure. He hates writing!" Ron chirped after nodding at Hermione's words, then lowered his voice to a grunt and screwed up his face in mock, pained concentration, and mimed writing in midair. " I...mustn't...look... like… a… baboon's… backside.". While everyone else was cracking up, Tom just shook his head and hid behind his book. Luna laughed the loudest and Tom made yet another mental note, this note was to_ never_ make her laugh again.

It seemed like hours later that they were all slowly exiting the train, gathering up their pets and trunks to head off to the carriages, carriages that Tom just now remembered were not so horseless; he had found that out after Myrtle had snuffed it. Knowing that he could see them again, because he had watched a friend die earlier this summer, didn't endear the beasts to him at all.

Someone knocked over a load of trunks behind them as they grabbed up the nearest, Thestral pulled buggy. Ron quickly hopped on so that he wouldn't have to go see what happened, while Hermione glared at him, but followed him in anyways. Tom couldn't see who had done the deed, but a couple of Slytherin's were on the ground in pain, and nearly all the trunks that had been piled there, were scattered all over the place. Malfoy was yelling at Crabbe and Goyle, so Tom figured the oafs must have had their noses in the candy that was spilled near them, and run into the trunks.

The hall was a buzz with ridiculous talk about nonsense, and Tom, though it was Harry they were really talking about. It made sitting at Gryffindor, with all the new first years, much harder than it had been before. The sorting was strange, the new teacher, Umbridge, ("Great, just what I needed" Tom had mumbled when she was announced) whom Tom just knew he was going to have quite a few detentions with, kept looking at him oddly. And most of the students who looked at him, would give him expressions of fright, which would wipe the encoraging smile Tom had, right off his face.

And to top it off, Snape challenged him to a staring match, that Snape, not Tom, added a sneer in taunting. "It can't get any worse than this" Ron quipped, noticing how Snape still gave Tom the 'I Hate you Potter' look, and he meant it, even though he knew Tom wasn't Harry Potter. But as Tom stared at Snape for awhile, the black eyed man quickly looked down at what Tom figured would be the table top or just below it. The Head of Slytherin's expression turned from hate, to pure loathing so fast that Tom blinked.

"Harry! Harry, you're not going to believe this! No, you're going to absolutely hate this!" Hermione's shrill voice brought Tom back to the here and now. Her face had a look of panic on it and she was pointing under the table where quite a few students, and more teachers, were now looking. In the case of some students, it was awe, humor and a bit of jelousy. In the case of the teachers, it was horror, interest, worry (McGonagall) and loathing (Snape). Tom leaned back so that he could get a good view of what was drawing the attention of the whole hall. There laying down under the table, and looking up at him with those guilty, sneaky and definitely dead-once-Tom-got-a-moment-alone-with-them-eyes, was something that was supposed to have been left on Platform Nine and Three-quarters and on its way home hours ago.

Yes, this year was going to be a _Jolly good _time for all.

_AN: Aaaannd there's ya another chapter, yes I'm still updating the other one, no I'm not posting them yet.. I want a few gathered up to post, don't ask me why, I just feel a mast update would be best for that story._

_Ron is slowly making his fall from grace, starting off with the clinging and then comes the bashing. Snape still hates on the main character, for more than one reason, and I know I didn't do the 'Dogging your footsteps' scene, there is a reason why. Draco didn't see the Dog as Sirius for many reasons, mostly because Tom wouldn't let Sirius up for anyone to really see him, secondly he acted more like a dog and thirdly, he didn't act all strange when Draco stared at him on the platform. So no one really noticed he wasn't just a dog seeing his master off._


	6. Chapter 6: Hot tempers

**AN: Most of this AN is posted from chapter 12 of Shimmerscale (because I'm too lazy to reword it beyond a few edits XD and besides, all of it is true for both stories' readers)**

Aaaaand here you go! I'm back, and with a new chapter for all you rabid readers out there following

this story! First off, I'd like to say that I'm sooooooo happy with all the reviews, alerts and

follows I've gotten on this and Shimmerscale. You guys make me feel well loved :D

This isn't a long chapter but still a good one. It is one of the converted chapters that was written ages ago but never finished (also due to the same disk error that got the chapters of the other (Shimmerscale) story)

FF is making a mess of my ' and my " in both this story and the Shimmerscale one, so if you see a spot with a square in it instead of an ' or a ", let me know and I'll fix it.

I know the formatting is off in some cases on both stories (now that I've gone back and looked through them) but I can't seem to figure out why. It replaced some of my bolds and what not or in some cases just didn't show up at all. I'll fix those soon so don't you worry about it.

Also...

I'm aware of the differences in times and what not, mostly free periods and so on, that I've done in this chapter and will continue to

do throughout the story. I will NOT change them as this is an AU story and it works for it. Plus, there will be in story reasons for them that will make perfect sense once they happen. And I know at the start of this story I stated I would have six people become Animagi in this story. Well I've thought it out and decided that only three (including Tom) get to be Animagi in THIS story. The others have to wait till the sequel to get theirs. Now which ones get them you will have to wait until the unveiling or at least until the training starts and those who have to wait start to realize they aren't getting it XD

Oh and YAY for DH badass!style Neville in this story, I hated that he seemed so meek after everything he has been through or at least seen Harry and crew go through.

And again, I have no beta, so forgive me any mistakes that are here.

Onward!

**Chapter 6:Hot tempers and a Marauder's delight.**

Tom slowly leaned forward again, sucking a long, angry, hissing breath through clinched teeth and started to stare at the top of the table until his eyes hurt. His heart was beating so hard against his chest that he was sure it would break free and land somewhere on the table in front of him. This couldn't be happening, it really couldn't, there was just no way it could be happening, it had to be a different dog under the

Gryffindor table, attracting the attention of all the people in the hall around them. And yet Tom knew it without a doubt was indeed the dog he and Hermione thought it was. Somehow Sirius Black had gotten on the Hogwart's express undetected, had traveled on said train also undetected, and then managed to sneak into the school -not for the first time, Tom reminded himself- undetected. And he had done so this time right under the nose of a Ministry Official. A very dangerous Ministry Official.

‟Just stay right where you are Snuffles and behave yourself" Tom growled under his breath at the Animagus, who was now hanging his head in shame at the tone of voice that the young man had used. Ron groaned as he leaned forward, now rubbing his face with his hands in a feeble attempt to rub

the image of Sirius in the school from his eyes, while Hermione started to rant under her breath. ‟Oh this is just terrible, Harry! Now what are we suppose to do?" she whispered, casting worried glances around at the many people who were now starting to talk among themselves. Tom huffed

loudly and took a drink from his goblet. ‟Stop staring at him and looking so worried. You are giving them a reason to be suspicious...Just act normal" Tom reached down to pet the dog's head, albeit a bit harshly as Hermione continued to rant.

‟But Harry, don't you understand? He is in the school, with her here...I mean it's bad enough you are..well, who you are-" but she was cut off by Tom's quick glare. ‟I. Will. Handle. It" he stressed, returning to his drink. But a cough from behind him made the young former Slytherin close his eyes and pray to all the Gods he knew for patience.

‟Hem, hem...And who might this be, Mr. Potter? You do know that dogs are not on the list of allowed pets at this school?"

Again Tom had expected a croak as he turned around to look almost directly into the toadish face of one each Dolores Umbridge. This was a bit humorous, seeing as Tom was seated and she wasn't, but he kept his humor to himself as the Professor continued to smile wickedly at him. He returned the smile, laying on the charm and attempting to see if what had happened with Tonks back at Number Four would work here with this woman.

‟But of course Professor, I would never try to sneak an unapproved animal into the school. But you see, I didn't know he had snuck onto the train and then in here. He is obviously quite attached to me and doesn't seem to understand that he is better off at home for now. His name is Snuffles and he is a gift from a friend, who is suppose to be watching him for me while I'm here. At the first chance I get, I will notify my friend to come and take him home." It seemed that the whole hall had stopped breathing for the whole duration of his speech. All the Teachers -save Snape- were staring, wide-eyed at the young man that somehow didn't seem at all like the boy that had been there for the last four years. The Students were all gaping at him, as if they were at a loss of words at his smooth answer.

This also seemed to be the case for Umbridge, who although was stunned at his response, at least had the ability to look unflustered. Her smile was the same as before and her voice didn't change in pitch as she replied; her eyes on the other hand told a very different and darker story. ‟Very well Mr. Potter. Make sure it is at the very FIRST chance you get..." She looked the whole table over once with the same evil smile and then turned on her heel, heading off toward the Staff Table. Ron, Hermione, Tom, Ginny, and the twins couldn't believe their luck as she left. But they all should have known it was too good to be true.

‟And Ten points from Gryffindor for being unable to control your pets." she called out, retaking her seat at the Head table and earning a murderous glare from Professor McGonagall. ‟You stay with Hagrid tonight, I'll see you in the morning if all goes well" Tom whispered to the black dog at his feet.

* * *

><p>‟Can you believe it? She actually took points, and we don't even have any yet, for a misbehaving animal! I mean, you can't even get points taken away if your Owl bites a teacher and here she is taking points because a dog that belongs to you wandered in!"<p>

Ron was holding his fingers in his ears, looking at Tom for assistance as Ginny yelled, stomped and roared about the unfairness of Professor Umbridge. Many of the other house-mates were not helping with the level of noise that was currently in the Common room. Almost all of them, save for Tom, Neville and Ron himself, were shouting 'Yeah!' Or 'That's right!' every time Ginny would touch on something they agreed with. Tom was amazed at how they all acted, even ignoring Tom himself in favor of bad mouthing their newest DADA Professor. All it seemed, except for Seamus Finnigan. He had been sulking in the corner of the room for most of Ginny's rant, before suddenly taking off upstairs toward the dorms with a final glare at Tom.

‟Come on then, lets get upstairs and unpack" Ron grumbled as he dodged another round of questions that Hermione was bombarding him with about his duties. Tom nodded stiffly, not at all pleased with the idea of having to enter the dorms where at least one, if not all, of his dorm mates were waiting to assault him with questions of their own. Sure enough, not more than ten seconds after Tom had entered the dorm with Ron in the lead and Neville in tow, Dean started asking questions.

‟Alright there Harry? Good Holiday?" he looked up from his trunk, watching a frowning Tom fiddle with the locks on his own.

‟It wasn't too great" Tom said quietly, causing Neville to pause in his readying for bed; it was obvious that he wanted to know what had happened. "Had some, pretty bad issues with my Muggle relatives that lead to...well. Let's just leave it at a not so good Holiday." Tom pulled out his pajamas and looked over at Dean in turn. "How bout you?"

Dean shrugged and smiled slightly, though he looked a bit curious at what kind of family issues 'Harry' might have. ‟Eh, it was okay I guess, nothing like Seamus' was anyway. He was just telling me how bad he had it." Tom pulled his shirt over his head and frowned over at Seamus' bed while Neville's eyes started to dart around the room as if looking for the best way to escape what he thought was going to be a bad night.

‟What happened, Seamus?" Asked Ron, who was tossing some oddly colored candies into his trunk. Seamus didn't respond right away, instead, he continued to rummage around in his bed for something he had laid out earlier and after a moment, he answered; with his back still turned to Tom.

‟Me mam didn't want me coming back to school"

Everyone present froze all actions and turned, if they were not facing Seamus before, toward the boy and gaped.

‟Why?" Tom finally croaked, thinking he sounded exactly like he wished Umbridge actually did. His question was met with silence for a time, then Seamus turned a little to look toward, but not at, Tom. ‟Well, I guess it was because of you, or rather, what you said...and of course Dumbledore"

Tom's face turned red and his eyes started to hurt because of the pressure behind them. He really should have expected this, it was nothing new from what normally happened. He was just so fed up with this all nonsense. True, all summer he had been listening to or reading about what the world thought of him -Harry Potter- and Dumbledore, so he had known that he would get the same kind of treatment here. But not from his own house mates, certainly not from his own dorm mates and friends. Ron seemed to stiffen next to Tom as the angry young man took his wand in hand and started mumbling under his breath. Even Neville was suddenly on alert and staring at the Holly wand as if it were about to explode as Tom whipped around quickly and snapped.

‟So your mum believes the rubbish the Prophet spits out does she? Thinks I'm some sort of liar, a nutter even? And Dumbledore's also lost all his marbles? Or maybe she thinks he's trying to gain some sort of power in the Ministry?"

Seamus replied carefully, his eyes were locked onto Tom's wand and how he was holding it -out in front of him like one would hold a dagger- the fear was evident in his voice. ‟Well no one really knows what to believe...I mean, it's your word against top officials. No one has any evidence to prove that he is back or that he...you know...killed Cedric Diggory."

The accusation was in the air now, just waiting for Tom to either prove them, the nameless officials, right or tell the whole story, blow by blow to the room at large. The gasps -Dean and Neville- and hissing -Ron and Tom- showed just what the room thought of Seamus' words. Tom was in the mood for neither a night of story telling or proving anyone correct in their assumptions; but he was very angry and his mind just wasn't working the way it should be. He let out a low growl and noticed how Neville and Dean both went for their wands, which were resting on their bedside tables. "You think I killed Cedric" he replied coldly, not a question, but a statement that was meant to either get Seamus to admit it, or simply end the conversation. But Seamus dodged Tom's answer, either taking that the boy was talking as an invitation to continue for more information or didn't really realize the dangerous territory he had treaded on by his accusation.

‟Well, what did happen that night then?"

Tom's eyes flashed in response. _'So that's how it's gonna be? Not going to man up and admit what you're thinking?'_ Tom took a deep breath, full of suppressed rage and snapped ‟Read the Prophet like your foolish mother, it'll obviously give you all the information you truly need-"

‟Don't you have a go at my mother" Seamus snapped back, half standing on his bed now fully facing Tom.

‟Your mother is a fool to believe that rubbish, I wouldn't ever have thought that she bought all that crap it was reporting during the tournament, but maybe she did." Tom snarled, stepping closer to the other boy with his wand out in front and ready for combat.

‟Don't speak to me that way-" Seamus started, only to flinch back when Tom cut across him sharply.

‟I will speak to you in any way I please, Finnigan. And I will have a go at anyone who calls me a liar and a murderer, including your mother" Tom snarled, his voice no longer resembling the normal pitch that he possessed as Harry Potter. Ron picked up on this tiny detail and looked horrified for a moment; almost as if it just now registered who his best friend really was, past, present and future, if things kept going this way. Neville pointed his wand at Tom and shook his head, eyes wide as the taller boy brought his wand into dueling position. Dean had somehow during the argument, wound up standing just off to the left of Seamus' bed and was trying to take the other Gryffindor's wand from him.

‟Knock it off mate!" he shouted, but Seamus wasn't listening. ‟You leave my mother out of this Potter!"

‟You brought her into this conversation, Finnigan, or have you forgotten how this whole thing got started" Tom mocked, his face twisted into a cruel smile. Something in his eyes must have relayed just how pissed Tom was to the others in the dorm, mainly Seamus, as he paled faster than Snape did when you insulted him. The rest seemed poised for flight, expecting something nasty to be cast from Tom. The magic was thick in the air, a cold and angry type that really shouldn't be ignored.

But Tom only blinked a couple of times, clearing his head and removing all emotion from his face. His sudden air of indifference and coldness had them all thinking that now was the chance and they quickly scrambled to their beds, pulling out things that they needed to get ready for sleep. Seamus seemed to have lost all steam he might have possessed before. He was now hidden behind his curtains, muttering, in a shaky voice, about crazy dorm mates and that they should be locked up for the good of the people. Ron was the only one who remained standing near Tom while the now silent former Dark Lord poked at a book he had in his trunk. He pulled out the Animagi book and threw it on the bed with such force, it bounced off and Ron had to catch it.

‟You almost blew it, mate" Said Ron quietly, putting the book back on the bed and watching Tom's tense movements out of the corner of his eyes. ‟I know, it is hard to control that part of my personality, now that I remember it. Things that remind me of my past will set me off, even if it is someone calling me a liar...I was always called a liar by the matron of my Orphanage, and punished even if I was telling the truth. Plus he practically accused me of killing Cedric" Tom sighed, looking over at the rest of the room and feeling suddenly guilty about the whole thing. Neville was peeking out of his curtains and smiled slightly when Tom sent him an apologetic look.

Tom then crawled into his own bed and pulled the covers closed with a muttered ‟Night" in Ron's direction, which was returned just as quietly. The lanky red head stared at the bed hangings that Tom had disappeared behind with a thoughtful look on his face. He was still staring when the others returned from the loo and whispered among themselves about the almost duel that had occurred.

Two hours later found Tom sneaking out of the bed and opening his trunk with a few shifty looks at each of his dorm mate's beds. Hours of thinking had him form up a plan on how to go about his 'special training' while at the same time having appeared to have sent his 'dog' home. He pulled out the invisibility cloak, Marauder's map, his robes and a hand mirror. After closing the trunk and locking it back up again, Tom put on his robes and headed out of the dorms as quickly, yet as quietly as possible.

‟I solemnly swear I am up to no good" Tom muttered from under the cloak once he was out of the earshot of the fat lady. The map and mirror activated and Tom scanned the map for a the dot he was worried about. _'still in her office, good'_ he thought, tapping the map with his wand and muttering ‟Mischief managed". It cleared and looked to be nothing more than a spare bit of parchment. He then turned his attention to the mirror.

‟Padfoot, meet me at MM's loo in five minutes...don't get seen."

A pair of worried blue eyes blinked back at him from the mirror but they gave no reply and soon vanished from view. Tom shoved the mirror into his pocket and, with the Animagi book in hand, headed off toward his secret hideout. Tom kept checking the map here and there, keeping his ears open for any sounds that may alert him to trouble. So far so good, but with Sirius on the move and out in the open, there was bound to be some kind of slip up in Tom's plan. He was surprised when he made it to the meeting place in one piece and found Padfoot was already there, hiding in his human form behind one of the sinks.

‟What's up?" he whispered, shooting a look over at one of the cubicles where a slight, muffled moaning was issuing. Tom just took the cloak off completely and put a finger to his lips. He then motioned for the Animagus to stand near him and smirked. ‟Watch and keep quiet".

Sirius gave him a look that basically said 'whatever you're about to do is probably going to make more noise than me', but did as he was instructed. Tom faced the sink nearest him that had the small engraving of a serpent on it and hissed "_Open"._

The sink crunched and parted, opening up to reveal a large hole that seemed to go on for ages into pure darkness. Sirius, who had jumped and let out a yelp when the sink moved, now leaned over the gaping hole with wide eyes and an awed expression. ‟Is this...?"

‟Yes, the Chamber of secrets" Tom replied smoothly, not showing his internal glee that his Godfather didn't appear disgusted or mad that Tom was taking him down there. Both men stood there for a moment to allow the air from the Chamber to become 'less stale' before sliding down into the abyss. ‟Just stick close to me and for the love of Merlin don't touch or talk to anything down here. Some of it is dangerous and some, well, lets just say I haven't figured out what category to put them under yet and that your dear old mum probably would have loved to have them."

* * *

><p>The next morning was a panicked affair for the whole of the fifth-year boy's dorm. They had all awakened at an earlier than usual time and noticed that Tom was missing and his bed didn't appear to have been slept in at all. Ron had even gone through Tom's trunk and found that two very important belongings were missing as well. This at first had put the red head at ease, as when Tom had been Harry, he had gone wandering under the cloak with the map in hand quite often. But then the dread of who 'Harry' was now returned and the Prefect was suddenly wondering what Tom could possibly be doing all night and well into the morning with the map and cloak, not having bothered to return to the dorms to sleep.<p>

‟Maybe he went to talk to Snuffles, you know the two of them are inseparable these days." Hermione whispered at breakfast when Ron had told her of Tom's great disappearing act. Neville was paler than the egg whites in front of him and leaned over to whisper back at Hermione.

‟That was a nasty row Harry had with Seamus last night, you didn't hear how Harry sounded. Dead evil he did. I thought he was somebody else all together at one point..." he trailed off to poke at his eggs as a grinning Ginny came in and flopped herself down next to him. ‟What's got you smiling like the Kneazle that caught the owl?" Ron quipped, stabbing a bite of eggs and ham as Hermione looked a book over she had in her hands.

Ginny only grinned more. ‟Oh, nothing, except I know what Harry is doing..."

Ron frowned and put his bite of eggs in his mouth. ‟So, whas he dooin?" Hermione rolled her eyes and opened her book even wider, but her eyes were on Ginny to continue. ‟He is trying to become a Marauder" she said simply, making Ron choke on his eggs and Hermione to almost drop her book. A pair of shadows suddenly appeared on the table and Ginny looked over her shoulder to see Gred and Feorge standing there with gob-smacked expressions; a pair of

extendable ears being stuffed quickly in a pocket.

‟Did I hear right?" Gred began.

‟That our dear, incorruptible Harry-" Feorge continued.

‟Has decided to embrace-"

‟The noble art-"

‟Of pranking?"

Ginny smirked and shook her head a little ‟I don't know about the pranking but he is definitely going to embrace the art of an animal spirit"

The twins eyes became saucers and Hermione groaned something about being 'reckless' under her breath. Ron just stared at his sister with a worried look. ‟And what do you think he will be?" Ginny just shrugged ‟Anything but a snake, I hope, but if he is I guess I'll just have to put up with him"

Neville, who appeared to not able to hear the whole conversation due to the fact that he was listening to a story that Lee was telling, actually looked up sharply at the mention of someone being a snake and asked rather more loudly than what was necessary.

‟Who is possibly being sorted into Slytherin and when?"

Ginny looked confused for a second, but quickly covered it with a smile. ‟Oh, we were just talking about a friend who might be attending here soon, no worries though." Neville though didn't seem convinced and watched them for a moment, before nodding and returned to listening to Lee, while Ron, Hermione, the Twins and Ginny all decided that the conversation should be continued elsewhere.

Hermione looked their time tables over and noticed they had a free period starting now, which was somewhat surprising to all the students in the hall. Normally there was a class right after breakfast, but today it seemed they had a whole two hours and a half before their first lesson, which was Herbology. Ron took this opportunity to stuff as many breakfast rolls in his pockets as possible, while the twins snatched up various skin protected fruits and dumped them into their pockets. Ginny watched on with amused eyes as Neville frowned at the antics of his friends, and figuring they knew what they were doing, started picking out foods that he could safely keep in his pockets as well.

"Where are we going?" Neville asked, putting the last of the rolls into a napkin before putting it away in his robes. Hermione just stared at him a moment, before looking at the rest of the 'group'. "Well, we were going to meet up with Harry. He's got a project that we want to help him with-"

Neville quickly cut across her in a lowered whisper. "You mean becoming an Animagus, right? What? You think I didn't notice the book he was reading on the train or continued to read last night? I know that's what you meant about 'becoming a snake', that's why I asked the question so loud, I wasn't the only one who heard you, you know."

The twins, Ron, Hermione and Ginny all gaped at him for a moment, before Hermione shook herself out of her daze and answered with a sheepish look. "Er, yeah, that's what he's doing"

Ron groaned loudly at the quick confession, making Ginny jump up suddenly and motion for the lot of them to follow her. "I think I know where he is, and if you" here she pointed at Neville, who was now following them out of the Great Hall at a quick pace. "Can keep a secret, I don't see why Harry would complain about bringing him along"

The 'Group' nodded in unison with murmured agreements, swiftly making their way through the halls and toward the abandoned loo, all the while keeping an eye out for any Professors who might be on the prowl in the area. They made it without a single incident, which didn't give them the cheery feeling they all wanted, in fact, it made them even more nervous and paranoid; nothing ever went to plan if it involved Harry Potter. But they didn't think long on it and soon entered the rather empty loo, locking the door behind them. "So, what do you think?" Ron asked the group at large, standing in front of the sink entrance to the chamber. "Better yet, what makes you think he went in there?" he added, now shuddering at the thought that yes, Tom would decide this was indeed a most epic place to become an Animagus.

"Well, I followed him earlier when he went to the kitchens for a snack, wasn't all that hard even with him under the cloak, what with Mrs. Norris trailing after him like he was covered in fish guts." Ginny answered, setting the book she had been carrying with her, down on the floor. It was a book, just like the one Tom had on Animagi, though hers looked second hand while Tom's was brand new. Neville looked more than slightly confused and started looking around the loo for any sign of Harry. "Why are we in the girl's loo? Why would Harry be in the girl's loo?"

Ron snorted at the question and pointed to the tap with the snake on it while Ginny gave Neville the quick and dirty on Harry's second year. By the time she was done, Neville looked like he would rather be ANYWHERE else than here, even a detention with Snape would be a far better choice. But he didn't leave, nor did he suggest anyone else do so. Ron continued to stare at the tap, hissing at it in a truly sad attempt at Parseltongue, however, eventually the sink made a loud crack and opened up to reveal the hidden entrance. The others all jumped back in fright, before turning to Ron in disbelief and awe. "How ever did you do that?" Hermione asked suddenly, breaking the stunned silence Ron's hissing had caused.

Ron's ears turned a bright shade of red and mumbled. "Harry talks a lot in his sleep, plus I remembered the sound he made in second year to open this thing. Just forgot how to make the sound like he did." he shrugged, looking down into the hole in the floor with an expression that clearly stated his feelings on actually going down there again. Ginny, paler than when she entered the loo, leaned over as well to look in, and then jumped into the tunnel with her eyes closed. The twins followed after her with a shout of horror and Ron, deciding he was NOT going to be the only Weasley currently in the castle who DIDN'T jump after his sister, quickly slid down the pipe calling "Wait! You don't know what's down there yet!".

Now Hermione and Neville were the only two left in the room. "Well, I suppose we should follow them down, don't you think?" she asked, looking over at Neville's frightened face. Neville shot her a look and nodded. "Though why Harry chose here of all places..." Hermione just shrugged at his words "We can ask him when we get down there. Together the two of them slide down the pipe and entered the fabled Chamber of Secrets, shrinking away from the pipe when they heard the sounds of the sink closing behind them.

"Wow, it's really dark down here you know?" Neville whistled, walking next to a silent Hermione as she lead him toward the sound of the twins' voices.

"Look at this place-" Feorge started.

"So dirty, yet so perfect-" Gred picked up after his twin with ease.

"Where a King and his Knights-"

"Of pure mischief-"

"Can reign without fear-"

"Of being overthrown or-"

"Arrested" Tom suddenly joined in, moving from the main part of the Chamber where the Basilisk bones were laying in plain view. The group gave a nasty start, pulling out wands or shouting out unpleasant words that promised pain and suffering should he ever scare them like that again. He just chuckled and indicated that they should follow him into the main Chamber, where a sopping wet Padfoot was currently panting away. Hermione, Ginny, the twins and Ron were all trying to get over the size of the Basilisk in front of them, while Tom scanned their numbers and noticed they had an extra.

"Ah, I see you brought Neville along for the ride. Alright there, Neville?" Tom asked quickly, taking in the disheveled looking Gryffindor's stance of defense. Said Gryffindor was currently looking at the Basilisk bones in horror, before sliding his eyes to Tom in a silent question. Tom nodded and the other boy shook his head. "No, but I'll be fine soon enough." Tom patted his friend's shoulder and lead him further in the chamber next to where Padfoot was sitting. Hermione and the others followed, taking in the sights of the chamber, which appeared to be undergoing a deep cleaning somehow, with a mixture of awed, scared and even worried expressions.

Neville noticed the currently mood of the group and decided to put his own fears aside in the hopes of getting some answers. "So what's all this rubbish about you trying to become an illegal Animagus and leaving me out of it?"

The much needed laughter that the whole group, dog included, shared could probably be heard for miles around.


End file.
